The huge surge in the popularity of yoga and meditation over the past few years seems to have increased the popularity of malas in general, so much that the mala tassel has even taken on a life of its own! Tassels are all the rage… on malas, wrist malas, and even just by themselves! Tassels on earrings, tassels on necklace chains, tassels on tassels on tassels. Ha ha. No joke We’ve seen multi-tassel necklaces just on a chain. There’s just a huge resurgence in demand for tassels on everything in jewelry lately. Maybe it’s connected to the “dream catcher” motif. Tassels; they’re like a feather for jewelry!
Matte Amazonite wrist mala with Gold Sandstone & etched brass accents
Remember that post we wrote back in January 2013, “Brass is Back“? Yeah, well it’s truer now than ever… told ya so! Now we’re seeing a huge popularity with the mixing of metal beads in with stone, wood, and seed beads. We’re getting lots of requests for malas with silver plated pewter accent beads, brass accent beads, and gold-plated brass.
Another trend is matte beads. Everything matte is popular right now. Matte Crystal, matte onyx, matte sardonyx agate, and matte fire agate are the most common. Lava rock qualifies in the matte category, and it’s still very popular! Faceted beads are still popular as well, but that contrast is where it’s at.
Matte Green Fire Agate with Matte Crystal Quartz & silver plated pewter accents
Then there’s Druzzy Agate; You’re own personal jewelry Geode. We put up a line of druzzy agate beads on our malas & wrist malas page a few months ago, and those are also increasing in popularity. Druzzy agate is like a matte and faceted bead all rolled up in one with their crystal geode inclusions! Those geodes are also becoming a focal point of necklace pendants, and bracelets as well. It’s a new addition to the wrist game bling, matte vs. shiny match.
Peacock Druzzy Agate wrist mala with faceted opalized glass & hematite
The King of Bling; pavé set beads with CZ’s or gemstones in them is really mainstream. Thank goodness people are opting out of the clay “shamballa” beads that have crystals glued onto them. Those are really tacky, and the crystals fall off easily. The wide-spread production of metal (brass or pewter) beads with micro pavé set stones on them has driven the prices down to where it’s now more common to see these than the clay & glue version that were all over the place a few years ago.
Golden Hematite with gold plated pavé CZ’s bead
Last but not least, is wood and seed beads. Rudraksha seed beads became the rage after that Julia Roberts movie, Eat, Pray, Love a few years ago. When it came to malas, basically it was Rosewood, Sandalwood, Bodhi Seed, Lotus Seed and Rudraksha, and that was it. Now people are looking for other options. We’re seeing a huge surge in popularity in many other types of wood beads including Ebony wood, Palm wood, Bayong wood, Robles wood and Coconut Shell beads. Now we’re also looking at a few new types of wood beads, including Jackfruit wood, White wood, and a light pink colored Philippine Rosewood!
Phillipine Rosewood mala with Cherry Quartz
We sell (wholesale) custom design malas, wrist malas, yoga & spritual jewelry. If you’re looking for a manufacturer to help you with production for your beaded jewelry designs, we can help! We use geunine, hand selected, high quality beads on all our products! We have 12 years experience in the industry… Click on this link to sign up for an account, and start working with an experienced wholesale supplier who delivers the quality you expect!
Great Eastern Imports 