Troll Beads, What Are They?

Although beads have been strung together to make necklaces and bracelets for many hundreds of years,the concept of collectible, individual beads that can be customised to your own particular requirements, and added to or interchanged periodically, is relatively new.

The first silver caste beads strung together on a leather necklace were made by Soren Nielsen in 1976 in Copenhagen and were known as Trollpearls, named after the Troll faces depicted on the first beads. Eleven years later Lise Aagaard, his sister opened her own jewellery store in Copenhagen launched Troll beads in a collection of individually designed jewellery. From these humble beginnings, the company which is still creatively driven by Lise Aagaard and her family, markets Troll beads in the US Western Europe and Japan.

Trolls are creatures in Norse mythology, who are mischievious and unfriendly and said to live in caves, logs or under bridges. Troll beads therefore take their inspiration from fairy tales, animals, flowers, mythology and astrology.

They can be made from a variety of materials including sterling silver, gold, glass and precious stones, usually strung on a sterling silver or gold bracelet.The whole concept of a Troll bracelet or necklace is to customise it to your own individual personality using a variety of materials, colours and shapes and because the Trollbeads are interchangeable, your necklace or bracelet can be changed at will. Whatsmore you can start a bracelet with a chain and just one bead and add to your collection of beads over a period of time.

As such they make perfect gifts for family and close friends as they can reflect the development of your relationship with them and the milestones and personal achievements in their lives such as graduation or birth of a child.

Although the original Troll beads company manufacture beads that are uniquely made from expensive materials, there are now less expensive alternatives readily available in the marketplace so everyone can enjoy making Troll jewellery.

So what do you need to make a Troll bead bracelet?

a bracelet of silver, gold or leathera lock that is detachable so that you can swap beads at any timea number of charm beads made from Italian glass, gold, silver or precious stonesstoppers or spacers that are placed between beads in a pattern to keep them neatly arranged and at the end of the chain to stop them falling ofa safety chain to ensure your beads are secure

A less expensive option is to use jewellery wire and s-clasp, together with a selection of beads and stoppers to decorate the wire and jewellery pliers and wire cutters.

measure and cut a length of wire 2 inches longer than the circumference of your wristpinch one end of the wire with the pliers and twist in a circle to form a looparrange the beads and stoppers in the required order and thread onto the wiregrip the open end of the wire with the pliers and twist into a circle to form aloop securing the beads on the braceletinsert one end of the s-clasp through one of the loops at the end of the braceletsqueeze the side of the clasp with the pliers to form a closed loop around the original bracelet loopthread the other end of the s-clasp through the other loop at the end of the bracelet

You have now made yourself a beautiful Troll bracelet! You can add to the bracelet at any time or change the type of beads to suite your mood! Troll beads must be the most versatile of home made jewellery!