A sophisticated take on an ethnic bead - the Tibetan silver-capped bead

I was drawn to a beautiful display of beads by a Tibetan vendor during a recent gem faire. While they did not sell  antique beads at their booth,  a unique find were several pieces of handcrafted Tibetan Silver-capped beads. There were several semi-precious gemstones and I chose Helenite (green)and Copal (red). For those of you who have never heard of Copal, here's a good link that describes the gem as "tree blood of the Gods."   

The beads by themselves were gorgeous and I wanted to create a design that would highlight the beads. I settled on a design called the Web of Silver by Maria Gulotta. After attempting several combinations, I settled with a combination of 4mm fire-polished light green crystals with the Helenite bead and 3mm coral beads with the Copal bead. I finished the arrangement with a super strong hard-to-find magnetic clasp and half-round 18 mm gauge silver wire. The finished product has a very delicate and elegant look to it - I'd like to call it a sophisticated ethnic bracelet.

To buy the bracelets, you can visit my etsy listing for Tibetan Silver-Capped Copal Bead Bracelet  or visit my Kalingabeads facebook page.