Hill Tribe Silver Beads

Hill Tribe silver is made by the Karen people in the northern mountainous regions of Thailand. The Karen tribe is the largest in Thailand, numbering over 400,000. The people of the Karen Hill Tribe are primarily farmers who are semi-nomadic, moving once they feel the land they farm has been depleted.

One of the crops they produced was opium, until the late 1960's when Thailand's king initiated "The Royal Project for the Hill Tribes." This project addressed the problems caused by their farming methods and served to dramatically reduce their dependency on opium crops. The king learned of the generational jewelry making skills of the Karen tribes, and provided them with the tools, silver, and contacts to help commercialize this industry.

Hill Tribe silver is carefully handcrafted of high-content silver (99% pure), and is a fair-trade product, which means that not only are the artisans fairly compensated for their work, but child-labor is prohibited and crafters meet appopriate international standards for conservation and environmental protection.