A Quick History of Shamballa Bracelets

Men's jewelry design is always a challenging proposition because while men desire a distinctive style, most won't wear anything glittering or shiny. Designer Mads Kornerup of Copenhagen created a great solution with his stylish yet masculine Shamballa bracelets made of nylon macramé woven with gold and gemstones in a wide range of styles just for men. The concept took off, and for fall it's one of the hottest men's accessories from New York and Los Angeles to Tokyo and Paris. The latest variations, which range in price from $11,500 for a classic Shamballa with a pavé diamond bead to more than $100,000 for styles with numerous diamonds and gems, are now available with colored diamonds, Colombian emeralds, South Sea pearls, and ceramic beads.

Shamballa Bracelet were originally made using natural stone, natural cord and hematite. The meaning of Shamballa encompasses tranquility, a feeling of being safe,(what the square knot symbolizes in the bracelet), secure (the square knot again) and grounded, peace and love. The hematite stone is said to give the wearer or holder of the stone a feeling of well being and deep calm. In this extremely fast world full of nervous energy, maybe people are interested in connecting to a slower pace by keeping some part of nature near them. This may explain Shamballa bracelets current surge in popularity.

The iron oxide in hematite gives it it's red color which is either found on the outside or the interior of the stone. Hematite occurs naturally throughout the world and can be found where water and mineral springs once were. Hematite is also known to occur near volcanoes. This is an understated stone with many subtle and sophisticated shades including light grey, medium grey, dark grey, black, silver, red, brown and red-brown. Because it is fairly common, Shamballa Bracelets is inexpensive and easy to acquire.

Knotting cord to make jewelry is an art form that is hundreds of years old. The square knot technique used in Shamballa bracelets is also used in macrame artistry.

The basis of a Shamballa Bracelet UK is the square knot and the sliding knot. The square knot, when done correctly, allows the bracelet cord to lie flat and not twist. The addition of the Shamballa beads which really can be any natural stone including jade, jasper, carnelian, hematite or others, or the popular pave crystal beads creates the character of the bracelet. The artistry is in the quality of the square knot tying and the placement of the beads. Done in a consistent manner, square knot tying makes a beautiful foundation for a bracelet. Adding a sliding knot at either end of the bracelet allows the bracelet to slip on with ease and then be adjusted to your preference. Once you get the square not basics down, just let your imagination go and have fun playing with the beads.

The Shamballa Bracelets UK
are available in a multitude of varieties from the natural stone mentioned earlier to hand made artisan pave beads. These are gorgeous round beads covered in high quality crystals. Many hand made varieties of these pave beads can be found on sites such as etsy.com. Beautiful, elegant and inexpensive, these beads dress up the cotton cord in such a lovely way that done skillfully, they would look great with an evening gown or a casual outfit. Shamballa bracelets are a wonderful way to express your unique style.