Hand-crafted in Columbia, the Hossada necklace features two shades of tagua slices dangling from a woven collar, creating a cascade of intricate colored slices. Like tree rings, mineral geodes, or finger prints; it seems each slice of vegetable ivory has a unique and captivating pattern. Available in about a zillion colors, one of them is sure to catch your fancy. Choose from turquoise (shown below), purple, green, berry, brown/orange, red or fall brown. This eco-friendly splash of bright colors is surprisingly lightweight for so much action. You might be wondering what the heck a tagua nut is and how choosing vegetable ivory equates to being environmentally friendly. The material used in this jewelry collection comes from the nut of a rare palm tree (Phytelephas Macrocarpa) that grows only along the South American coast – it’s known as the tagua nut. The nut is harvested seasonally, only after it falls off the palm tree. When the palm fruits ripen, the fruit drops to the ground, and the nuts can be collected for processing. Afterwards, they must be left to dry for 2 months, and they become extremely hard. Once the nuts reach the artisan crafters, they are polished until they get a clean and shiny look. Then, the nuts are cut with extreme care in order to give them different forms, and they are French-dyed into various vivid colors before becoming jewelry. The cellular structure and grain is similar to that of elephant ivory, but is much more dense and resilient. Vegetable ivory resembles the finest ivory texture and the color is slightly softer than normal ivory and contains a void in the center of the nut. Tagua has been known and used by craftsman for years and is frequently passed as elephant ivory. Tagua is viewed as a sustainable alternative to ivory derived from animals, and responsible cultivation and harvesting of tagua may also help with rain forest conservation in South America. The Amazonian Indians believe that the tagua nut brings prosperity, happiness, love and abundance. Any way you slice it, this necklace delivers tons of color and activity, so be ready to get noticed in the Hossada choker. I think Bones might even be smitten by the Palma collection.

Price: $65.00
Palma Collection: Hossada Necklace

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 at 3:29 pm and is filed under Eco, Green Clothing, Women's, Women's Accessories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.