Double-Strand Ombré Wood Bead Necklace

• Double-strand layered design
• Dark-to-light ombré gradient
• Chunky center beads tapering to smaller beads at the sides
• Adjustable 3 in extender chain
• Lightweight despite its bold scale

Because the beads are cut and finished from natural wood, grain, tone and the raw-to-polished contrast will vary slightly piece to piece.

Wood beadwork sits within India's broader tradition of jewelry made from local, renewable materials — wood, seed, horn and shell worked alongside metal and stone. Each bead is turned or hand-shaped on a lathe, bored, and sanded in stages to bring out the grain before it is either polished to a deep sheen or left matte.

The gradient here is a design choice: pairing a lacquered finish with an untreated one in the same piece so the wood itself, not paint or dye, creates the transition from pale to dark. Leaving part of the strand raw keeps the material's own character visible.

Each bead is sorted by size and tone, then strung by hand in graduated order — small and pale at the ends, large and dark at the center — and knotted onto cord with the extender chain that gives the necklace its adjustable length.

• Technique: Hand-turned and sanded beads, hand-strung

Wipe clean with a soft, dry cloth. Keep away from water, perfume and direct sun to protect the wood's finish.