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Gift bracelet sizing suggestions

By on September 10, 2025 in Elephant Hair Knot Bracelets, Gold Knot Bracelets, Silver Knot Bracelets

There are many issues sizing bracelets and it is not a precise science. Some people like their bracelets tighter, some looser, some even over clothing or under another bracelet. There may even be a question of left wrist or right wrist if a person is very physically active with one or the other hand.

This chart below shows how wrist/bracelet sizing usually breaks down:

SIZEInchesCentimeters
Tiny (Kids only)< 6″< 15cm
Small6 – 6.5″15.2 – 16.5cm
Medium6.5 – 7.5″16.5 – 19.0cm
Large7.5 – 8″19.0 – 20.3cm
Extra Large8 – 8.5″20.3 – 21.6cm
XXL8.5 – 9″21.6 – 22.9cm

Compounding the problem here, especially when you want to send a gift bracelet to someone far away, is the fact that most quality bracelets are not easily (if at all) adjustable. Except of course, for those made in a traditional African elephant knot style. They are both adjustable to some extent and all are clasp free so they can’t break and come off accidentally. You can tighten them as needed with the magic sliding knots once on your wrist – even different amounts on different days when you are in different moods.

Sample 2 Knot Adjustable BraceletSample 3 Knot Adjustable BraceletSample 4 Knot Adjustable Bracelet
2 knot gold elephant hair bracelet3 knot elephant hair braceletSilver and gold 4 knot african elephant hair knot bracelet

These designs greatly simplify selections when buying online for yourself as well as for friends and family. But it is still not a “one size fits all” proposition. Rather a “one size fits many” decision, so I recommend ordering Small size for teenagers and skinny ladies, Large for big men (and very big ladies) and Medium for everyone else.

If ordering off me here at Safari Gold or on my Etsy store, all bracelets are made to order. So you can order the closest size you think is right, then give me your specific wrists size (if known) for the wearer, and I will tweak the actual bracelet specifically for you. For kids’ bracelets please contact me in advance.

Two knot bracelets offer the most variability. Same for three knots but you may want to give some thought as to where the knots end up. If you look at the sample pics here, notice the complexity of four knot bracelets. Popular though they may be, the knots will run into each other and go no further if it closed down too much or worn by someone who is too small for that mechanism. This also means I cannot make 4 knot bracelets in small size – especially if they have 5 or 7 strands. As a result, two knot bracelets are the best gifts when you are sending them to someone who’s actual wrist size you don’t know but suspect it could be skinny.

Note also that my SimbaCub designs are smaller and lighter, but not as strong for everyday wear, so they are more suited for slender people or children.

P.S. If all else fails and you order the wrong size, simply return it for a no charge adjustment or replacement. And include a wrist measurement!

#bracelets #elephants #safarigifts @elephanthair

Real or Artificial Elephant Hair?

By on February 29, 2024 in Elephant Hair Knot Bracelets, Gold Knot Bracelets, Silver Knot Bracelets

In the attached picture one of these bracelets is at least 60 years old (maybe even 100) and the other one is about 60 minutes old! It is such a joy to make something like they did so long ago in the bush. In fact it was fun to restore the very old, very real elephant hair bracelet, if for no other reason than to see how the magic knots of Africa were tied back then.

A real and an artificial elephant hair bracelet with gold knots

Clearly the knots on both are new. I did them on the same day after a European client asked me if I could restore the bracelet his father gave him 45 years ago in Mombasa, Kenya. It was great to see the old design and also now you see why my designs are so similar to those traditionally worn in East Africa. This contrasts strongly with the big chunky ones I have been asked to repair in the past. They are usually much newer and more fragile and hastily made to appease a tourist or hunter. I hear people say “Oh, I bought it on the streets of Cape Town or Johannesburg, so it must be legal.”

Wow, how naive can you be? Commercial trade in elephant products is illegal in most parts of the world nowadays, with a few exceptions if you have the right Cites permits. So that elephant tail hair from a street side vendor is probably from a poached elephant – a market no one should support. But I think it is OK for me to rework the knots on very old ones like I did here.

If you like the look and feel of an elephant hair bracelet, and don’t want a silver, gold or copper one from my collection, then look into artificial hair models. Only you will know the difference when wearing one in public and no elephants will be harmed in the process. You can even order them as combo models with silver and artificial hair models, or gold/hair or even (as two of my clients suggested) gold/silver/black tricolor models.

PS If you look in a big dictionary you will see they define artificial as a synthetic material that has been reworked by hand to make it look even more realistic.

Memorable Graduation Gifts

By on May 30, 2022 in Elephant Hair Knot Bracelets, Gold Knot Bracelets, Love knot pendants and earrings, Silver Knot Bracelets, Zoo

Comparison of silver vs gold knotsA few years ago a polite, elderly lady, who was struggling a bit with her English, called me to order a new bracelet for her son. I loved it when she said, “He is now a full time practicing hot-shot lawyer. And he is still wearing that old silver elephant hair knot bracelet I gave him when he went off to college.”

Muttering mostly to herself, she went on to say, “It just won’t do. He has to look more respectable now.” So I was very happy to help this proud mother select a new gold one for the first lawyer in the family.

Every year about this time we hear from parents like this lovely lady. They are rewarding their recent graduating children with a gift they can wear for a very long time. So much more heartfelt than a gift that just sits on a dusty mantel somewhere.

Elephants are famous for having very long memories so modern elephant hair knot style bracelets are very appropriate for occasions like college graduation – or even for using as send off gifts when you release your teenagers to go off to college and flee the home nest. Plus they are suitable for men or women, big or small, rich or poor, since they come in a variety of sizes, are very adjustable so they can’t accidentally fall off, and can be ordered in copper, artificial elephant hair, silver or gold – or many different combinations thereof.

Solid gold bracelet bangle

Silver and Gold, or Gold and Silver?

By on December 13, 2021 in Elephant Hair Knot Bracelets, Gold Knot Bracelets, Love knot pendants and earrings, Silver Knot Bracelets

Just when I was starting to think that there weren’t any more combinations of silver and gold, or metal and artificial elephant, a customer insisted she wanted a 4 knot gold bracelet with silver knots. I had thought of this before but gold people are usually very particular. On the other hand, I was an idiot because one of our most popular products is the 4 knot silver bracelet with gold knots. The gold knots just add a touch of class compared to an all silver model, but I thought the reverse would be true adding silver knots to a gold bracelet.

Gold on silver or silver on gold strands elephant hair knot bracelets.

Not only was I wrong but on further examination, I did offer 2-knots and 3-knots silver with gold strands bracelets that I had forgotten about. Isn’t it fun selling direct and interacting directly with your customers, even though we live 3 time zones apart?

Of course, being a passionate lover of these bracelets, and blaming her mother for the variations (while thanking her husband for letting her spend the money) she wanted earrings to match. So now they also come in both flavors as you can see here:

Did you know the knots really slide on these earrings? They are about 5 cm (1.5″) in diameter. I plan to make some even smaller petite ones to match our SimbaCub line soon.

And like all our bracelets, they are made from fully rounded wire in a traditional East African and Southern African style making them ideal for anyone with a love for African safari adventures. All silver is Argentium tarnish resistant 935 sterling silver and all gold products shown here are 20/14KY gold fill. Rose gold may be substituted for the same price and solid 14KY gold is available for those where only the best will do. See the Simba bracelet section in the Safari Gold shop for specific items.

Black and Gold models to round out the combo offerings

By on October 22, 2018 in Elephant Hair Knot Bracelets, Love knot pendants and earrings

While silver and gold bracelets may make for a casual elegance look, black and yellow gold or especially black and rose gold make for a very, very, elegant look. They also serve to round out our complete set of combination metal and artificial elephant hair bracelets.

black and gold elephant hair bracelets

They are only available in two knot versions since the hair has a mind of its own especially when twisted around a metal band and that prevents us from making 4 knot versions. However, they are offered in both a slender 3 strand version (2 gold and 1 hair) or a 5 strand version (3 gold and 2 hair).

How unique is that? Not seen elsewhere at all though others have tried by anodizing silver to make the black strand(s). Unfortunately, the black from anodization quickly wears off and becomes a dull grey.

For a more natural all hair look, see the models of hair with gold knots in 5 strand versions only. There are even matching smaller earrings and a pendant. The knots even work on these – just for fun.

 

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Elephant Hair Knot Bracelets and Safari Jewelry

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