Anyo Swal: Beads with a Difference

Walking the stretch of White Beach is serious exercise. I swear I saw my stomach shrink the first two times we walked the length from Diniwid Beach to Station 2 (and we haven’t reached Station 3 yet…can you imagine what my waistline would look after a week of doing that? Goodbye diet pills!).

What made the walk particularly interesting was looking at the wares displayed on mats along the beach, in stands and small stores. Rows upon rows of two of my favorite things: blings and clothes. I think I would have lost more pounds if I didn’t stop every few meters to look at what’s on sale. Who wouldn’t be drawn to these stuff: so colorful, so many, and cheap too. When I decided to be a wiser spender, I was quite happy looking at bracelets and beads (never mind the cute filmy dresses you throw over your bikini – at Php 700 up, it can put a dent in my vacation splurge money). Until I came upon a stand near D’Mall where the beads are of better quality and the designs are unique. I simply had to stop and take a closer look, then try on a few pieces, and finally bought not one, not two, but three unique accessories made from some of the most unusual materials.

Anyo Swal, a play on the English word “Unusual” is the word that describe the creations of local artists Melvin Olivera, JB Herrera and Noriel Herrera. Each one of them handcrafts bracelets, necklaces and anklets from snake bones, boar’s fang, sharks’ tooth, deer horn, crocodile teeth, carabao bone. These out- of-the-ordinary materials are mixed with semi-precious stones like jade, coral, amethyst, garnet, tiger’s eye, onyx and murano glass and even clay. Some are ingeniously wrapped in nito or fisherman’s net for a distinctive local yet sophisticated feel. Most of the materials are sourced from Palawan and is strictly one-of-a-kind. They explained that they cannot duplicate the design of one piece so buyers are assured that they are purchasing the only one of its kind. The pieces cater to both men and women. I noticed some men looking at exotic necklaces in nito with crocodile tooth pendants. It looks much better than it sounds. Prices start at Php 300 while some of the most intricate ones go for Php1,500.

So yes, I exercised my butt off in Boracay and ended up buying some of the most unusual and good-looking pieces I’ve ever seen. Did I tell you that most of the pieces I liked cost 350 and I was able to shave off 100 pesos? Not bad, my bling bling baul is now better stocked.

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About the Author

Rose is editor and content manager of activephilippines.com. Get valuable information on what’s hot and hip in the metro, from dining and recreation to the best places to visit. In addition, activephilippines.com promotes e-commerce and provides small to medium business entrepreneurs with a venue to sell and advertise online. To top it all, registered members of the site have the option to subscribe to a complete business software package that allows them to do every step of their daily operations – inventory, accounting, auditing, purchase, payroll — completely online.

All about Murano Glass Jewellery

You must have worn at least one Murano Glass Bracelet in your life. The ultra cool smokey beads and evil eye CZ Murano jewelry is perfect for every occasion. But do you know where the Murano glass comes from? Murano glass comes from a tiny, yet beautiful island in north of Venice, named Murano. The island is undisputed capital of the world famous Venetian glass, since ages. Murano Bracelets, artifacts, showpieces, flower pots etc. made out of this glass are extremely popular for their unique style and gorgeous colors.

Murano bracelets are probably the widest selling item of this glass. The beautiful shades, shapes and designs of designer glass bracelets have made the Murano style glass and CZ and Murano style Evil Eye bracelets a favorite of women all around the world. But creating this type of jewellery is not easy. It takes years of experience and hard work to achieve dexterity in this profession. Making this glass is an art which makes every Murano glass bracelet or Murano glass pendant chain, a treasured piece of art. The glass maker has to know the exact composition of chemicals to get a particular shade in the glass. The structure of this glass is so delicate that even a slight change can spoil the entire beauty of the finish product.

For instance, in order to achieve the aquamarine shade, which is readily used to make designer glass bracelets, a well defined mixture of copper and cobalt is needed. This shade is widely used in creating Murano glass evil eye pendants and CZ bracelets. Many different shades and designs are created with the various combinations of compounds. No wonder the Designer Glass bracelets are a favorite of designers all over the world.

Beads are very much in style these days and glass beaded bracelets are the most beautiful items made out of them. Even though, plastic, stone and other types of beads are also available in the market, but the color, quality and beauty of Murano beads and the glass beaded bracelets made out of them are way ahead of all of them.

Even though, this glass is also being produced in many parts of the world now, but the best quality and authentic Murano glass and jewellery is still only available on the island of Murano. Glass makers still produce it with age old techniques and methods which have been passed on to generations to generations. There is a huge amount of counterfeit Designer glass bracelets in the market these days and buyers should make sure that they are not being cheated.

The authentic Murano glass is only produced on the Venetian island and Murano style CZ bracelets which are originated somewhere else, are fake. All good jewellery designers make it a point to import this gorgeous glass to create an authentic Murano glass bracelet because they know that true Murano glass is not just a material for jewellery making, but is also a part of history and tradition.

About the Author

TrendToGo sells quality murano glass jewelry including designer inspired murano glass jewelry, murano glass bracelets, sterling silver cz fashion style jewelry, murano glass silver jewelry and many more at affordable rates.

air drops flameworked glass bead by Angelita Francescangeli