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About
the Legends of Africa elephant hair bracelets:
There
are many stories associated with the good luck spirits that
will visit you, as well as the bad ones that will stay away,
if you wear one of these traditional knotted bracelets from
Africa. Perhaps some of them are even true, or based on a
true parable passed down from tribal story teller to tribal
story teller (or chief or witchdoctor). What is known for
sure is that people in Africa have made these bracelets for
hundreds of years. Some were (and sometimes still are) made
simply from grass and stems. Then wandering hunters found
plenty of elephant hair stuck in old thorn trees or in areas
frequented by elephants. And when they used it to make similar
bracelets, the bracelets lasted for many years.
Today,
of course, it is not legal to trade in elephant hair products,
so no one can get a permit to import these from Africa (though
many still move illegally around the world). Instead we have
found that giraffe hair is just as durable, but slightly finer,
so more suited to a number of jewelry applications. And giraffe
roam the plains of Africa in ever increasing abudance....living
off the top of thorn trees, and leaving their tail hairs in
the lower bushes. Some zoos even cut the hair from the giraffes...
to make them look neater and tidier for all their visitors!
It does need to be properly treated.
All bracelets
shown on this site are hand made in Kenya or South Africa,
using the same magic knot formula passed down through the
ages. Please do not ask us how it is done, as we won't tell.
But you can see our African silversmiths have extended the
concept into combination designs, as well as pure silver designs.
Beware
of fake hair products. If each strand is very identical and
symmetrical, then it was probably not a product of mother
nature. Certainly in Africa nothing grows in a straight line
or width.
Your purchase
of these products helps keep a few more people in Africa employed,
so we try to always keep as wide a selection as possible.
Thank you.
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