Multi-Strand Seed Bead Rope Necklace in Black, Gray and Ivory

• Multi-strand bead design
• Approximately 29 individual strands
• Banded color pattern
• Brass-tone spacer beads
• 38-inch drape length

Each necklace is hand-strung, so the exact bead count, strand spacing and drape vary slightly from piece to piece.

Multi-strand seed bead necklaces are a familiar form in Tibetan dress: many strands of small glass beads layered and banded to build volume through repetition, rather than around a single focal piece. The banded structure here — dark strands giving way to pale, then dark again, each edge marked in brass — follows that same organizing logic.

The piece is made by Tibetan artisans working in Nepal and India, where large Tibetan communities have carried beadwork and stringing skills forward as a working trade.

Each of the roughly 29 strands is hand-strung one at a time, with beads sorted by color and size beforehand so the black, gray and white bands line up cleanly across every strand. The brass-tone beads that mark each color transition are threaded in individually to keep the bands crisp, then the strands are gathered and finished by hand so the whole necklace hangs with an even, cascading drape.

• Technique: Tibetan multi-strand beadwork

Keep away from perfume, lotion and water. Store flat or hanging separately so the strands don't tangle.