Asian & African Jewellery

Sheeba is an online shop offering jewellery from Asia and Africa. The pieces are brightly coloured and priced between £5 and £12.

Forget plastic. Buy environment-friendly gifts

Despite their low price, the jewellery items are not made of plastic or other synthetics but from natural, organic materials such as bone and shell.

Bone is durable but can be worked with hand tools and responds well to polishing. The finished products can be stained or dyed but the natural colour is a warm cream-brown. The texture has none of the artificial character associated with plastic. It is an authentic material and bone jewellery looks expensive (even though our most expensive item is only £12).

Bone will never match the finesse and opulence of gold and silver but its natural, earthy qualities make it ideally suited to relaxed and informal occasions.

African recycled paper necklaces

The ultimate planet-friendly gift comes from Africa: a necklace made from recycled paper beads. Coloured paper from magazines is cut, rolled into the bead shapes, and then glued and glazed.

Because of their brilliant colours, the beads look as if they are painted, but the colour comes from the paper used