The Lalibela Strand
$145
Multi-strand necklace of small recycled glass beads in amber, cobalt, and cream, with hand-twisted copper wire clasp.
Materials
Recycled glass beads (amber, cobalt, cream), hand-twisted copper wire clasp
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Why Liz Chose It
“Tigist turns broken glass into something that catches light like it's holy. When she draped this strand over my hand, I saw a whole neighborhood's resilience glowing back at me.”
— Elizabeth Groch, Founder
The Story of This Piece
The Lalibela Strand takes its name from the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela — ancient structures carved from living stone that have stood for eight hundred years as monuments to faith and craftsmanship. Like those churches, this necklace transforms humble materials into something transcendent.
The beads are made from recycled glass — broken bottles, old windows, discarded jars — melted down and reformed into small, luminous spheres. The amber beads carry the warmth of Ethiopian honey wine; the cobalt captures the deep blue of highland skies; the cream echoes the pale stone of ancient churches.
Each strand is assembled individually, with beads selected and arranged by hand to create a pleasing rhythm of color. The copper wire clasp is twisted using a technique unique to Tigist's workshop — a braided pattern that is both decorative and remarkably strong.
The Artisan
Tigist Haile
Age 38 · Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tigist Haile started making jewelry from recycled glass as a teenager in Addis Ababa, not out of artistic ambition but out of necessity. Growing up in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods, she began collecting broken glass from construction sites and teaching herself to melt it down using makeshift tools.
What began as a survival strategy became an art form. Tigist developed her own color recipes — learning which types of glass, when combined and heated to specific temperatures, would produce particular colors. Her amber beads are now prized by collectors for their distinctive warmth and depth.
At 38, Tigist employs twelve women in her workshop, most of them single mothers like herself. She runs a Saturday school for neighborhood children where she teaches basic craftsmanship and business skills. She has never left Ethiopia but dreams of one day visiting Venice — the historic center of the glassmaking world that she has studied through books and documentaries.