Celebrate the iconic artistry of Frida Kahlo with this stunning 16-band beaded necklace. Featuring an intricate design that captures the profile of Frida, this necklace is a vibrant tribute to her legacy.
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Material: Crafted from high-quality Czech glass beads and real gemstones, offering a luxurious feel and vibrant colors.
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Design Feature: The necklace showcases 16 bands of intricately woven beads that form a stunning depiction of Frida Kahlo’s artistic profile. The interplay of colors and patterns is a true testament to skilled craftsmanship.
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Size: Measures 33 inches in length and 2 inches in width, providing a bold and eye-catching statement piece.
- Country of Origin: Handcrafted in Guatemala, this necklace supports fair trade practices and local artisans.
- Special Feature: Secured with a loop closure, making it easy to wear while ensuring a secure fit.
- Slight color variations may occur in beading
design: A bib-style beaded necklace with 16 loom-woven bands in blush, rose and warm brown tones, centered on a pictorial panel of Frida Kahlo's profile with her signature flower crown, finished with a loose fringe of beaded strands at the base.
size: 33 inches in length and 2 inches in width.
material: Czech glass seed beads and gemstone beads, with alloy hardware.
features: 16-band loom-woven construction, pictorial Frida Kahlo portrait panel, graduated multi-strand fringe, loop closure
care: Store flat or hanging away from tangling, keep dry, and avoid pulling on the strands to protect the beadwork and loop closure.
disclaimer: As each necklace is hand-beaded, slight variations in color and bead placement should be expected from piece to piece.
The Story
This necklace is built using loom beadwork, a technique in which fine seed beads are strung and woven row by row across parallel threads to build up a flat, pictorial band — much like weaving a miniature textile one bead at a time. It's a hallmark of small beadwork ateliers in Guatemala, where artisans use the same row-by-row logic seen in traditional backstrap and floor-loom weaving, but scaled down to seed-bead width to render fine detail, color gradients and even portraiture.
Here, that technique is used to depict Frida Kahlo, the Mexican painter whose self-portraits and flower-crowned image have become one of the most widely recognized icons of 20th-century Latin American art. Beaded and embroidered portraits of Kahlo are a popular subject among artisan makers across Mexico and Central America, both as a tribute to her legacy as an artist and as a showcase of the maker's own skill in translating a recognizable face into a grid of beads.
The blush and rose palette softens the bolder colors Kahlo herself was known for, while the multi-strand fringe at the base echoes the layered, statement-necklace silhouettes long favored in Guatemalan beadwork, where a single piece can take on the drape and presence of a woven collar.
Building a piece like this starts on a small hand or bead loom, where the artisan strings row after row of tiny Czech glass beads, following a charted pattern the way a weaver follows a cross-stitch grid, to bring Kahlo's profile and features into focus one bead at a time. Each of the 16 bands is woven separately, then the bands are joined and the loose fringe strands are hand-strung and knotted off individually before the loop closure is attached — work that rewards a steady hand and careful color counting over speed.
Craft & Materials
- Made In: Guatemala
- Craft Tradition: Loom-woven beadwork
- Ideal For: Art lovers and admirers of Frida Kahlo looking for a statement conversation piece
- Wear It With: Let it stand alone over a simple neckline or solid-color top so the beaded portrait stays the focal point
- Purpose: Statement necklace, gift for art lovers, special-occasion wear
- Metal: Alloy
Questions & Answers
How long is the necklace?
It measures 33 inches in length and about 2 inches across at its widest point, designed to sit as a bold statement piece.
How does the necklace close?
It fastens with a simple loop closure for an easy, secure fit.
What is the necklace made from?
It's hand-loomed from Czech glass seed beads and gemstone beads with alloy hardware.
Will the colors look exactly like the photo?
Because each necklace is beaded by hand, slight variations in color and bead placement are normal and part of its handmade character.
Where is this necklace made?
It's handcrafted in Guatemala by artisans working within fair trade practices.
