The Bali Shell Collar
$125
Wide collar-style necklace of small cowrie shells hand-knotted onto natural rattan with linen thread in a sculptural arrangement.
Materials
Small cowrie shells, natural rattan, hand-knotted linen thread
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Why Liz Chose It
“Wayan builds these like tiny sculptures, shell by shell. It's the ocean and the forest knotted into one piece — I wear it and feel Bali on my skin.”
— Elizabeth Groch, Founder
The Story of This Piece
The Bali Shell Collar is a piece that sits at the intersection of ocean and earth, ancient and modern. Cowrie shells have been used as currency, decoration, and spiritual objects across the Indian Ocean world for millennia — and in Bali, they carry special significance as symbols of the goddess Dewi Sri, protector of fertility and prosperity.
This collar is constructed on a framework of natural rattan — a material harvested sustainably from Bali's interior forests — with each cowrie shell individually knotted into place using linen thread. The sculptural arrangement creates a piece that is both dramatic and organic, conforming to the contours of the neck and collarbone.
The shells themselves are collected from Bali's southern beaches after storms, ensuring that no living organisms are disturbed. Each shell is cleaned, polished, and selected for size and color before being incorporated into the design.
The Artisan
Wayan Sari
Age 41 · Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Wayan Sari is a master weaver from Ubud, the cultural heart of Bali. She comes from a family of basket weavers — her mother and grandmother were known throughout the region for their intricate rattan work — but Wayan saw an opportunity to apply traditional weaving techniques to jewelry design.
She began experimenting with shell and rattan combinations in her twenties, developing a style that caught the attention of Bali's artistic community. Her work was discovered by Liz during a sourcing trip in 2023, and the two immediately connected over their shared appreciation for natural materials and sculptural form.
Wayan employs six women from her village, including her two sisters. She is also an active environmentalist, participating in beach cleanups and advocating for sustainable harvesting of rattan. She believes that jewelry should connect the wearer to the natural world, not distance them from it.