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Our ancient ivory bead necklace featuring mammoth tusk can also be worn as a bracelet—show off this hand carved beauty both ways with this versatile piece.
Our Ancient Runes fossilized ivory bead necklace perfectly encapsulates the organic feel behind all Zealandia jewelry designs. This is an everyday piece that is far from the ordinary with its use of ancient materials and fine attention to detail.
Loosely designed around the concept of ancient runes, the graphic alphabet used before the Latin alphabet came into use, this necklace was imagined as a keeper of secrets and meaning. Runes were more than alphabetic letters to those who wrote them. Each rune held a specific power, meaning, and significance—much more than simply an abstract symbol.
The hand carved fossilized mammoth tusk ivory beads in this necklace, though not embellished, seem as if they might be inscrutably inscribed. The Rosary style and organic mix of various shapes ensures each necklace is unique in structure, yet forming a cohesive whole. Fossilized mammoth ivory is over 15,000 years old and has lain in permafrost or the earth for centuries, accreting a soft cream to deep caramel hue. Its relative scarcity and natural beauty make it a highly prized material in hand crafted jewelry and works of art.
At 20 to 22 inches, this fossilized ivory bead necklace can also be worn as a wrap bracelet, looping around the wrist several times for a multi-strand effect.