This comprehensive volume gathers 70 of the top designers in the exciting field of beaded jewelry. Seven chapters organize the work by materials, cultural influences, and construction. The Gemstone chapter features magnificent jewelry made of semi-precious stone beads, while shedding light on the wealth of symbolism they convey. The Africa and Asia chapters portray the vibrant and diverse influences of the jewelry traditions of East and West Africa, China, Tibet, Nepal, India, and Central Asia. Nature highlights the freshness and appeal of jewelry created with organic materials: wood, seeds, bone, horn, shells, coral, pearls, and more. Fiber and Metal explore new twists in texture and structure demonstrating that beaded jewelry, while drawing on tradition, is passionately alive. The Contempo chapter serves up a visual feast of designs created with Contemporary American Art Glass, space-age dichroic glass, and an ecclectic mix of found objects. Once prized for their ethnographic and historical interest, today beads and beaded jewelry are also recognized as important art forms. This essential survey of the bead renaissance of the late 20th and early 21st centuries will delight artists, designers, collectors, and historian interested in beads and/or personal adornment.