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African and Asian Trade Beads February 1st 2012 We shall be away bead-hunting in West Africa from the 12th February until late March. As usual Order Enquiries will be acknowledged whilst we are travelling and full
details will be sent out on our return the UK, but no orders can be dispatched during this period. My apologies for any inconvenience caused, but without these regular trips to Africa, we would be unable to find and offer you the best of the available items. January 23rd 2012 Hopefully the New Year has started well for you and your families and 2012 will bring continued happiness in your association with and appreciation of trade beads. After a busy and enjoyable Christmas period we have just published the exciting finds of rare and beautiful items which we were offered by our faithful West African dealers and friends during our recent trip in December. The links below lead to where they are on display, hopefully for your enjoyment and interest. You can also easily find them by clicking on the Perhaps the most exciting news for Kiffa collectors, is that at last we have managed
to buy a few more of the rarest of these beads in absolutely perfect condition .. the Polychrome Triangulars. They are incredibly difficult to find nowadays and the conditions I forecast in our Summer 2010 Newsletter have undoubtedly become all
too true, concerning prices and the fact that good quality trade beads are an almost guaranteed investment for the future during difficult economic times: Presently, due to the world's economic difficulties, the Bead Trade in Africa, in common with many other markets, is not exactly buoyant. But the fact that investing in quality antiques still remains one of the safest investments to make for the future, continues to support us all. If at all possible, we aim to keep our prices in line with our usual ones and the time will surely come when prices for these beads will reach 50% higher, but I think you will agree that that time is not now. Many African traders regularly look at our Website pages to keep an eye on the prices that we sell our
beads for and information is passed onto those without Internet facilities. Just about all of our loyal, long-time suppliers realise that increasing their prices by large amounts to compensate for lack of
business, is a short-sighted approach and only leads to other dealers 'jumping on the bandwagon', similarly raising their prices and spoiling the whole bead market for everyone. Those very few who do
not agree with our point of view, do not get our business … although we will continue to keep in contact with them, until hopefully the 'light dawns' !! It did dawn, but even after extremely lengthy negotiations, we had to pay very much higher prices to buy these Kiffa rarities and .. with the distances travelled and the ever-increasing costs involved .. we have also had to raise their prices. Although in comparison to the few genuine antique Kiffa on offer elsewhere on the Internet, they are still very reasonably priced and of a far higher quality. Nearly as rare and popular with collectors are the highly prized circa 17th century German Pentagonals, a few more of which we were also very fortunate to find. Another lucky coincidence at a large African craft fair, was meeting up with some long-time Tuareg friends, whom I had not seen for 6 years since I last visited them in their craft market in Niamey, Niger. They were exhibiting beautifully made silverware .. a selection of which you can find on our Tuareg Silver pages. Our updated Chevrons pages contain a very wide selection of 2 to 7 layer varieties, from the earliest 15th century Venetian production to the present day and there is an even wider variety of rare and unusual bead collections available in our Venetian pages, with many more Millefiore Singles and Small Collections. More specimen items have been added to our Connoisseurs Corner with beautiful selections of ancient Roman and Persian glass originating from Afghanistan, a classic Chevron strand and an historic Neolithic Quartz bead collection. Our Specialist Strands have also been updated and feature a host of lovely beads. In addition, there is a new range of colourful Stone collections and some really beautiful Mauritanian Hair Decoration Shell strands, larger and more ornately decorated than are usually found. Our Asian Trade Beads Website continues to offer a wide range of inexpensive but attractive items. Specifically available in small quantities for hobbyists and jewellery-makers who want something different, but do not want to buy the large minimum quantities often demanded by their manufacturers. We wish you an enjoyable time looking through our pages .. the more you look the more you will find, so please check your favourite types which were once sold, but may have been replaced with similar items. To all our friends and loyal customers, I send not only our grateful thanks, but also those of our African suppliers and their families which your purchases support, for your patronage during 2011. Our Very Best Wishes to you all for a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful 2012. David Nevill
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