Bejewelled June

Hot off The Bench

Tradewind and West African droplet bead and silver Moroccan crosses necklace

West African droplet and Tradewind silver necklace

Layered West African glass trade bead, record disk, seed bead and silver chain necklace
Orange droplet and beaten silver post earrings
Christie Halsted is looking forward to spring and has created a collection full of the colour punch of African Citrus. Mixing tiny Tradewind beads with antique glass droplet beads from West Africa, she has used silver to emphasis their vibrant colour. This joyful collection is composed of necklaces, earrings and bangles – watch for new additions on Facebook.

Gold wired vintage ivory epeka with carnelian, padre, excavated, brass and vermeil bead necklace

Gold wired lion claw on vintage ivory, brass and vermeil bead necklace

Rare yellow core white heart with Fulani agates, Baule cage brass, Colorado and vermeil beads

Vintage ivory, gold wired miliifiori, excavated, padre and vermeil bead necklace

Gail van Jaarsveldt’s latest pieces for African Renaissance are a desert inspired combination of bleached stone and ivory tones, shot through with rich rusts and all brought together with gleaming gold. Gift’s intricate wirework once again makes each piece a collector’s item.

Polished buffalo horn with sterling silver hinge clasp and silver studded leather bracelet

Polished dome cut buffalo horn and silver ring

Silver studded leather hook earrings

Joe Mutoko has returned to his favourite medium – buffalo horn – and created a set of sleekly stylish pieces. His bracelet is combined with sterling silver studded leather to match his earrings, whilst the elegant dome cut ring is a must buy!

Multi stripe candy cane Trade bead and sterling silver ring

Malian sweetie bead and candy cane silver earrings

Layered Malian, snake, Tradewind and candy cane beads on silver snake chain necklace

Snake bead and silver stud earrings

Christie Brookstein has been swept away by girly tones this month and created a collection from rare pink and lilac tone trade beads. Malian sweetie marriage beads, glass snake vertebrae beads and finely striped candy cane beads all feature.

The Ruoko Report

Scrimshawed insects on vintage ivory by Moses Kalembela

The Ruoko members are all creating beautiful pieces, but we’ve decided to focus on Moses Kalembela’s latest collaboration with Christie Halsted this month. We’re giving you a sneek peak before the pieces are made up, which will take several weeks, so enjoy this preview!

Once again, Moses has turned his delicate scrimshaw technique into miniature works of art. He puts hours of work into each miniscule creation, using magnifying glasses to make the fine details. With the use of coloured Indian inks, he’s broken traditional scrimshaw stereotypes and captured African insects on vintage ivory in glorious colour. It’s almost as if he’s etched the spirit of each tiny creature; each piece is so vibrant. I can’t wait to see what Christie Halsted will create with these mini masterpieces.

Thank you to The Zambezi Traveller newspaper for covering the restoration work Gift undertook on the Makishi costume in The Jafuta Heritage Centre – see the story here.

Facebook Diary: The Ruoko Project

Website: The Ruoko Project

Fashion Focus

Emily Factor Spring Summer 2012 show with Alex & Lee accessories

The above image from Women’s Wear Daily, taken at the Los Angeles Fashion Week Spring 2012 shows Emily Factor’s latest collection, accessorised by Alex and Lee. The designer used photographs she took of succulent plants, flowering cabbages and ammonite fossils as the basis for the digitally printed patterns and Alex and Lee followed suit with their beautiful statement jewellery pieces, created from ammonite fossils and stone slices.

We’re in line with this trend, currently working with amazing ammonites sourced from Madagascar. These incredibly beautiful swirled fossils come in all sizes and the nacre sheen to them is multi hued. Ammonites even become gemstones or amolite when these nacreous layers are multiplied and compressed! Here’s our interpretation of the trend with more new pieces coming through soon…

Full ammonite ring by Christie Halsted

Silver capped ammonite earrings by Joe Mutoko

Silver capped ammonite pendant on silver chain

Creative Carnelian

Madagascan quartz pendant on leather and silver necklace by Christie Brookstein

Madagascan quartz and Baule bronze necklace with facetted carnelian droplets by Christie Brookstein

Amber and silver ring by Christie Halsted

For those of you born in July ruby and carnelian are your month’s stones. Carnelian is excellent for restoring vitality and motivation, and for stimulating creativity. In ancient times it was used to protect the dead on their journey to the afterlife. It gives courage and motivates sucess in business and other matters. Ruby is also an excellent stone for energy and encourages a passion for life. It is a stone of abundance and promotes dynamic leadership.

Cancerians have green aventurine and chrysoprase, whilst Leos have rock crystal and golden quartz as their star sign stones. Rock or clear quartz crystal is often found with inclusions and is abundant in Victoria Falls – you’ll pick it up around the gorge area in it’s distinctive wand shapes. Both star signs also have an affinity to amber.

Ndau News and Events

Cover Craft – A Resource Guide to Zimbabwe by Jane Lee and Jane Stilwell

• Jane Lee and Jane Stilwell have released the latest edition of Craft – a Resource Guide to Zimbabwe and we’re proud to be featured under the Victoria Falls section, along with Gift Sithole of The Ruoko Project. This book is a truely comprehensive guide to the best of local art and craft and introduces you to the creators behind the products. We love it – congratulation to the authors for all for their tireless research and passion for all things proudly Zimbabwean!
• We’ve had to delay our Lusaka trip until November, but that means we’ll be there just in time for Christmas shopping, so make a note in your diaries to attend the wonderful ZADS Fair on the 16 and 17th of November. See our website and Facebook pages for more information.

Contact Us

Thank you to all our new likes on Facebook! Welcome to The Ndau family and enjoy keeping up to date with the latest pieces as they leave the studio via this site. Thank you also to all of our bespoke customers. We’re custom making more pieces than ever for individual clients, in The Ndau style, so remember this option when it comes to special gifts.

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Just email us if you don’t see what you’re looking for online as we only make one of each piece, so don’t put everything for sale online. Let us know asap as pieces find new homes quickly!

Malian sweetie marriage bead and silver bracelet by Christie Brookstein

Malian sweetie bead and silver chain earrings by Christie Brookstein

Malian sweetie bead and silver ring by Christie Brookstein