Wish List: Heishi Beads

I recently treated myself to a strand of black lip heishi beads, and I’m looking forward to using them so much, that I couldn’t resist exploring some more beautiful disk-bead possibilities. The term heishi, or heishe, typically refers to small round disk beads made from shell or gemstones - heishi means ‘shell bead’ in the traditional language of the Santo Domingo peoples of New Mexico.

Today’s heishi beads come in a variety of styles and colors. Rough chip shell heishi are a common component in West Coast and surfer style jewelry, while gemstone rounds make for beautiful, slinky necklaces. You can even get metallic ‘heishi’ spacers for capping precious stone or lampwork beads.

Red Lip Shell Heishi Beads
From Artbeads.com






Labradorite Heishi Beads
From Happy Mango Beads






Red Bamboo Coral Heishi Beads
From Auntie’s Beads






Black Pewter Heishi Spacer Beads
From Beadaholique






Garnet Cube Heishi Beads
From Gemalicious Beads






Turquoise Heishi Beads
From FusionBeads.com






Peridot Heishi Beads
From Lima Beads






Spiny Oyster Shell Heishi Beads
From Happy Mango Beads

Do you like heishi beads? What’s your favorite way to use them?

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