As a self-proclaimed jewelry junkie, I am always on the hunt for stylish and innovative pieces to add to my ever-growing collection.  Recently while searching for some hidden treasures, my friends the gift gurus at The Pink Puppy pointed me in the direction of She Beads, a marvelous company that crafts hand-rolled clay bead jewelry.

What first caught my attention about She Beads was the beautiful, intricate detail on each bead and the Charity Bead Collection, pieces created to represent charitable causes (with a portion of the proceeds going to that cause) such as breast cancer, heart disease and women, childhood cancer, ovarian cancer and oneness, for racial unity.

Working as an x-ray technician for the Chicago Bulls, basketball great Michael Jordan came upon Sandy Rueve stringing beads and requested a bracelet for himself. Rueve took this opportunity to start working with clay to create a custom piece for Jordan. As one can imagine, the request for her work grew and out of it developed She Beads. She Beads expanded from Rueve running the business in 1993 as a cottage industry out of her basement in Illinois to occupying a 4000 square-foot studio and employing over 30 employees.

What makes She Beads so special is Rueve's commitment to women's and children's issues through education and charity. The operation and it products truly developed from a labor of love.  Each meticulously created piece of jewelry is hand-crafted, going through approximately twenty steps and many hands to make each individual bead.

At first glance - in this age of mass, machine generated goods - one might assume that the beads are mechanically produced, or at least hand-painted (which in itself would be quite a task due to size and complexity of the images on the beads).  This is not the case; She Beads are entirely formed from polymer-based clay, including the elaborate designs and patterns on each bead.

Polymer clay is baked at a low temperature that won't alter the color or size of the finished piece. The entire process is called Caning; canework is a technique that was originally used in glass-working for making complex designs. This technique has been adapted to create canes (clay colors are mixed and rods are formed, which are then joined to create the cane) in different colors. The intricate designs are visible in the cross section of the cane. The canes can be rolled thinner without distorting the design within no matter how small diameter the cane.

Once the cane has been reduced it is ready for bead-making. Slices of razor thin veneer cane are applied to a translucent bead; often as many as six slices cover just one bead. Each is hand rolled to smooth out seams, and all of the beads are then pierced with a skewer and baked in a low heat oven.

All beads are hand strung, some with gorgeous Swarovski crystal or sterling spacers. Each piece is original and marked with the signature SB located near the knot. Don't let the delicate look of the pieces fool you; all beads are extremely durable as a result of the baking process.

The Charity Collection is a unique and wonderful program that Rueve has created to provide aid for a variety of charities and organizations in need. Whenever beads from the Charity Collection are sold a donation is made to the charity associated with that bead:

A pale pink bead with the pink ribbon represents Pink Ribbon Girls (breast cancer); a teal bead with a teal ribbon represents the Chicago Ovarian Cancer Alliance; the Red Dress bead is for Go Red for Women, the American Heart Association; the yellow ribbon bead is for CureSearchNational Childhood Cancer Foundation; and the beautiful brown, black, orange & yellow bead represents the Oneness, the promotion of racial through music and the arts.

The beads themselves are meaningful pieces of art which when strung together form a finished masterpiece that tells a story. When purchasing a piece online you have the choice of adding a charity bead to your jewelry or having an entire piece made with the charity bead. 

Don't let the name fool you, just because they're called She Beads doesn't mean they've forgotten about guys, after all Michael Jordan did request the first piece! She Beads has designed a line of earrings, keychains, bracelets and necklaces just for guys called for He Beads.