Beader’s dictionary
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SEED AND NUT
Seeds and nuts are often confused with one another. Indeed, their origins are similar; they both come from a vegetal. The term nuts actually designates the walnut tree’s fruit, however, we also use this term to designate seeds such as almonds.
A seed is an organ that is part of a vegetal and can germinate. There are hundreds of varieties and some are used in the process of making fashion jewelry. They are dried, sanded, perforated and at times dyed, painted, or engraved.
Nuts are actually fruits with a shell or shuck that can originate from various tree. They can be dried and sometimes died to make fashion jewelry.
Some nuts and seeds are more frequently used to make jewelry.
Bull eye
The bulls eye seed is a seed that originates from a vine of the Vabaceae family, the Vigna Umbellata. There are several different varieties. Just like beans they come from a pod that can measure 10 to 15 cm. Each pod contains 2 to 4 seeds. The seeds are flat and bumpy. Their color vary from beige to dark brown and reddish-brown. Some are sprinkled with dark spots and hemmed with a black band all around.
Buri
Buri beads come from palm trees (Buri Palm). They are often cut in such a way as to leave brown grooves, creating a tiger stripe aspect. Their inner color is a clear beige slightly translucent. They can also be dyed.
Coconut
The coconut is a fruit that comes from the coconut tree, a tree that is part of the palm tree family. Coconut beads are made from the coconut shell which is extremely hard. Light and shock resistant, coconut beads and pendant naturally come in beiges and soft browns and can be dyed in a large array of colors. Coconut beads and pendant provide a natural and gender neutral aspect.
Edjok
Edjok seed beads have an oval shape, are cream colored and have a brown spot on one of their extremities, which is why they are also called white beetle.
Kagay
Kagay seeds are flat and slightly bumped. They measure approximately 4X5 cm. They are usually brown in color and smooth, at times they have a slightly tousled texture.
KuKui
The kukui seed comes from the fruit of the Kukui nut tree, which originates from the pacific and can reach up to 20 m high. The fruit of this tree measures approximately 5 cm and can produce one or 2 oleaginous seeds that are extremely rich in oil. These seeds are the ones used in fashion jewelry. The oil is extracted from the seed and the shell that is left from the process is what constitute the bead. Ranging from beige to dark brown, they can be painted, dyed or burned. The seeds measure approximately 2 cm, are hard, bumpy and hollow.
A little bit of history: A long time ago, this fruit was dried and burned so as to produce the black ink used for tattoos.
Pili
Pili nuts originate from the Canarium ovatum, a tree that is part of the Burseraceae (Torchwood) family, it is a Phllippinian tree. This seed is very hard and has an elongated shape and has three surfaces. It measure 3 to 4 cm long and 2 to 2.5 cm wide. Pili nuts are golden in color and sometimes stripped with maroon.
Pugahan
The pugahan seeds also called bird brain are beige in color and veined with brown. They have a rounded shape, a flat side and are quite small in size (1 cm to 1.3 cm) which gives them the appearance of a bird’s brain.
Salwag
Salwag seed come from the royal dwarf tree (Salwag palm tree). The shell from its fruit is red when ripe. The seed ranges from white to beige and is striped with yellow veins. It is covered with fibers that are removed to make beautiful beads. The beds are smooth and polished, quite small and vary in size.
