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       Yona Cohen’s beaded jewelry with bows, tiny shells, glass flowers and hearts will require a change in aesthetic for those more accustomed to discreet chain pendants and subtle hugs.
       “My idea was to create these extremely complex and narrative pieces,” Ms. Cohen, 26, said during a recent telephone interview from her home studio in Istanbul’s Gokturk district.
       She does this by stringing beads and incredible combinations of materials, and it’s a blast. For example, the Respiro necklace, inspired by the 2002 film of the same name directed by Emanuele Crialese, combines miniature shells, blue glass hearts, small glass beads strung on bows, mother-of-pearl crosses, freshwater pearls, Dalmatian jasper, Citrine, Ametrine and Black Onyx. It shouldn’t work, but it does.
       Unlike metal jewelry, which requires planning for casting or shaping, beads can be strung by hand, so the creation becomes “meditative and mindless,” she said. “I did a lot of additions and subtractions until I felt the result had reached its final form.”
       Ms. Cohen’s jewelry embodies a new passion for beads in contemporary jewelry design, from simple strings of shells to seemingly impossible tangles of pearl grains. While many of these pieces reject the minimalist and invisible luxury trends that have prevailed in recent years, they also demonstrate human effort: they are jewelry that is unmistakably handmade.
       Threaded beads have a long history: shells with threaded holes found in Bizmoun Cave (near modern-day Essaouira, Morocco) are at least 140,000 years old. Beads appear in almost every culture and period. They were used as currency of exchange, tokens of love, amulets and prayer aids and symbolized loyalty, belonging, style, status and power.
       This connection is one reason Ms. Cohen likes the technology. “I have always been fascinated by jewelry in archaeological museums,” she said, describing her shock during a September visit to the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy, when she realized that the beads had changed little over the centuries. “They use the same Roman glass beads that I now use in my work,” she says. “I like continuity.”
       Ms. Cohen was born in Istanbul and studied fine art at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. After graduating in 2019, she returned to her hometown and began learning traditional Turkish beading techniques. In 2021, she launched her own jewelry brand on Instagram.
       She said her style was partly influenced by Ottoman prison beads, a term for items made by Turkish prisoners of war during the First World War. They used tiny strands of glass beads as well as Ottoman weaving and crocheting techniques to create bookmarks, jewelry, and figures such as snakes and lizards. This process helped relieve boredom, but also created items that could be traded for rations.
       Ms. Cohen said she discovered the work in antique markets and bazaars in Istanbul and it was “amazingly detailed and intricate, like a painting.” “I’m lucky to come from a place where creating beautiful things by hand is deeply part of the culture and where people share that understanding.”
       For Ashley Harris, founder of Brooklyn-based jewelry brand Don’t Let Disco, designing and making beads is an unusual way to combine spontaneity, playfulness and creativity. “The process by which a bead becomes a piece of jewelry is more magical than logical,” she said. “I don’t plan the design in advance. I describe it as a dance between design elements and the ‘canvas’ of negative space – ultimately it has to feel right.”
       Ms Harris, who was chief marketing officer at New York auction house Sotheby’s, launched her own brand in 2021. The custom glass beads, which resemble Lego-style bricks, donuts, breasts and other shapes (drawn by Ms. Harris’ sister), were handcrafted by a craftsman in Venice. Fourth generation glass manufacturer. “His studio, like many others we work with, relied entirely on his skills,” she said, “resulting in production times of up to six months.”
       Each piece by Ms. Harris is unique and intricately designed. The Original Disco Bracelet ($175) features freshwater pearls, moonstone and clay beads, light bulbs and pressed glass, while the Lemon Drop Crystal Necklace ($1,200) is from the brand’s luxury Caviar Crafts collection using yellow sapphires and crystals.
       Hand-sewn pearls and candy-colored bio-resin beads, secured with knots, ties and braids, have become permanent creations at London-based jewelery studio Completedworks.
       “Our beadwork is definitely expressive,” says Anna Jazesbury, artistic director and founder of the studio, “because creating and arranging music can be done with your bare hands, but it is also labor-intensive, time-consuming work that only one can do AND it requires a lot of patience,” she notes, noting that the necklace, called Cove (£685, about $870), combines baroque pearls with tiny strands of freshwater pearls and takes at least a day to make.
       Jennifer Mulley, founder of fashion accessories brand Jiamini in Nairobi, Kenya, and a member of the Kamba tribe, said her work highlights what she calls the “symbolic, non-verbal language” of beadwork, which she has been using in her community for a long time.
       Jiamini’s latest collection, Mtwana, for example, combines traditional Kamba leather bead embroidery with gilded details that resemble human vertebrae, a recurring theme in Ms Mulli’s work. She says the style is meant to convey “strength and a constant reminder that whenever you feel overwhelmed, all you have to do is dive deeper into your axis.”
       Today, she teaches local women beadwork, a process she says took at least two years. “This is an art form that I have witnessed my mother, grandmother and other women in the community actively participate in,” she said. “For me, the language of the beads and the process of embroidering them constitutes the final part.”
       For example, Carolina Bucci developed her Forte bead collection five years ago, starting with customer creations. Customers can create rainbow strands of stone beads at its stores in London or Florence, Italy, or using tools on the company’s website. Each bead and piece is customizable and the customer is ready to string their chosen beads onto their chosen thread. Bracelets start from £480, with additional accessories such as an 18k gold palm tree pendant (£980) or 18k gold and diamond beads (£1,690).
       Jewelry can be designed and deconstructed over and over again. “This is what it was like to make bracelets with friends as a child, and I wanted to recreate that feeling of connecting with precious materials,” Ms. Butch said. “People come into the store and sit there for hours, fidgeting in an almost trance-like state.”
       Don’t Let Disco hosts monthly beading sessions at its Brooklyn studio, allowing clients to create their own necklaces and bracelets using a variety of beads and cords. “Regulars find these sessions a therapeutic break on Sundays,” Ms. Harris said. “I think it reflects the simple luxury of human connection.”