The Bead Chest - 18mm Blue Recycled Glass Beads

Krobo tribes-people are world-reknown for the beautiful recycled glass beads they create using a process developed by their forebears. Interestingly, the powder glass method used to make these African beads is as simple as it is elegant. The artists that specialize in making these beads will go about and gather old, broken, or otherwise unutilized pieces of glass. These they crush with stones or other tools into a versatile powder that can be shaped in bead molds designed for this purpose. Once heated inside a clay bead mold, the glass melts from thousands of small pieces into a single piece of glass that solidifies at room temperature. The production these recycled glass beads is most common in Ghana where is both good for the local economy, friendly to the environment, and a testament to an ancient bead making tradition that is both beautiful and historic at the same time.