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The human body has seven Chakras or energy wheels and each of the genuine gemstones used in this jewellery relates to one of those power centres. Combined with the magic of the ancient Celts and threaded with Hematite to give you courage, this jewellery will help to keep you balanced and energized.
Each piece of jewellery is individually handmade in Wales using Celtic Chakra gemstones and our own Celtic beads, which are hand cast in solid lead-free pewter and engraved with intricate Celtic knots, symbols of Eternity.
Choose from bracelets (threaded on stretchy elastic)necklaces (different lengths and styles)
pendants ( dangling on silver plated chains)
earrings (on sterling silver earwires)
All items are presented in silver cardboard boxes with Chakra information and an informative tag.
CROWN Chakra – Rock Crystal – Awareness
THIRD EYE Chakra – Amethyst – Insight
THROAT Chakra – Sodalight – Truth
HEART Chakra – Aventurine – Love
SOLAR PLEXUS Chakra – Citrine – Self-confidence
SACRAL Chakra – Tiger Eye – Family
ROOT Chakra – Carnelian - Security
You can also have your Chakra jewellery made with solid silver Celtic beads and sterling silver components. All details are on my website!
The view from Annie Wealleans workshop.
AmeriCymru: Hi Annie and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. What was the inspiration for Black Dragon Crafts? When did you found the company?
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Annie Wealleans, AKA The Black Dragon Herself, was born in Sussex in 1951. After several extraordinary adventures in England, Europe and USA/Canada, she moved to Wales in 1974 to establish a business and live the dream.
She produced leather goods and beaded jewellery, then an odd commission for an unusual handbag introduced her to the delights of Celtic designs…and the rest is history.
She was inspired to design her first Celtic bead in 1990, after a long and fruitless search for something authentic to incorporate into her beading work.
Her very first bead was made of cake, during a tea break in the workshop! The first production beads were moulded in recycled plastic and coated with silver – they l ook ed good but were too lightweight and the silver layer wasn’t sufficiently durable. She moved on to having them cast in solid pewter, with a silver plated finish. The quality was excellent: they looked fabulous and felt valuable. They proved very popular . The range grew and Annie designed some buttons and pendants too.
Years later, her whole world almost crumbled when her caster decided he wanted to retire...but he very kindly offered to sell her all of his equipment and teach her his casting skills instead.Within 6 months, Annie had built an extension to her workshop and installed the gear. She had met the lovely Rob by then, he is an engineer and proved very useful! She had her training, bought some big gloves and started creating her own beads.
That was over 10 years ago and she has produced over a hundred thousand beads since then!
She uses lead free pewter, which is an alloy of 95% tin, with copper, antimony and bismouth. Please note: there is no lead or nickel! She melts the pewter and pours it into rubber moulds in an ancient centrifugal casting machine at 350°C. It’s a hot, dusty, dirty, complicated and time consuming process but she still casts, files, cleans, tumbles and hand finishes all of the beads herself, in her Beadoir on a remote green Carmarthenshire hillside. The views from the workshop are amazing: if you can’t see the mountain, it’s going to rain. If you can’t see anything, it’s already raining. On a good day, you can see forever.
She now has over 30 solid pewter bead, button and charm designs. Each one is unique and has its own name…and all are engraved with her very own Celtic knot patterns. Annie sells them on their own and worldwide for other people to use, trade and enjoy. There are beads with small holes and beads with large holes – so you can thread them into many different projects. They are supplied polished and with an antique finish – the silver plate is history.
She features the beads in several different ranges of totally timeless jewellery, made in the “clean” part of her workshop. With one lovely part-time lady called Chris, she threads them into several ageless collections of necklaces, bracelets, pendants and earrings, all of which are realistically priced and beautifully packaged. She incorporates a colourful selection of genuine gemstones in her jewellery, each of which has its own story or power. The story of your chosen gemstone is included in every purchase and there are plenty to choose from.
There is Celtic Chakra jewellery to keep you energised and balanced and jewellery with hearts to make you feel loved; there is jewellery with Big Beads because Big is Beautiful and there is delicate jewellery because Small is Beautiful too. There are dragons and there are stars....everything has a Celtic flavour and is made to order, with love.
This is individually handmade jewellery, for individuals.
Beware of imitations!
You can connect with annie@blackdragon.co.uk or visit her at www.blackdragon.co.uk or www.celticbeadshop.com . You’ll find her products are very affordable.
