The Beads That Refuse to Whisper

In short: two hand-made glass bead necklaces, the Emerald Series and the Royal Cobalt Series, designed by Unity Art Collective and handcrafted by Epica Jewellery. KES 200,000 each, made to order.

There are necklaces that decorate and necklaces that announce. The new glass bead pieces from Unity Art Collective and Epica Jewellery belong firmly in the second category.

Emerald and Royal Cobalt: two statements in glass

They arrive as two saturated statements: one deep forest green, one intense cobalt blue. Both are built from large, translucent glass spheres that catch and hold light rather than scatter it. Crystal spacers on the green keep the rhythm precise; the blue stands almost uninterrupted, a single chord of color. Neither piece tries to be delicate. They sit on the collarbone like architecture—clear, heavy, and certain of themselves.

Designed by Unity, Handcrafted by Epica

The collaboration is straightforward. Unity Art Collective, the Nairobi collective working across art, fashion, apparel, and visual culture, supplies the design language, the color logic, and the narrative that frames the work. Epica Jewellery, the Nairobi studio founded by Sharon Wendo (@epicajewellery), supplies the handcraft. Wendo built Epica around bold, contemporary African statement pieces that have appeared in Vogue. Her work has never been interested in quiet accessories. These necklaces continue that line.

What Unity brings is a different kind of control. The patterns, the sequencing, and the specific color stories (the Emerald Series and the Royal Cobalt Series) remain Unity's intellectual property. Epica handcrafts each piece under that direction. The co-branding is exact: "Designed by Unity, Handcrafted by Epica." It is not a vague partnership. It is a division of labor between visual authorship and skilled production.

How the beads feel and wear

In the hand the beads feel dense and slightly cool. The green has the depth of bottle glass held up to a window; the blue reads closer to liquid pigment. Neither color is soft. They are the kind of hues that force a decision about what else is worn with them. Against bare skin they read as pure object. Against fabric they become the loudest element in the frame. That is the point.

East African beadwork, updated

East African beadwork has long carried status, protection, and identity in concentrated form. These pieces do not quote that tradition so much as accept its premise—that a necklace can be a public object rather than a private one—and update the materials. Glass instead of traditional seed beads. Large scale instead of dense pattern. Contemporary color instead of coded palette. The result sits comfortably in the space Unity already occupies: wearable art made inside a collective that treats fashion, content, and visual work as connected practices rather than separate industries.

Bought direct from the people who made it

There is no elaborate launch narrative attached. The necklaces are available on UnityCollective.art, sold directly from the collective's own site. In a market that often routes African design through distant intermediaries, the directness is part of the statement. You buy the piece from the people who designed and made it.

Wendo has spent years arguing, through the work itself, that Kenyan jewelry can be both culturally specific and internationally fluent. Unity has spent its time building platforms that let creators keep more of the authorship and the revenue. The glass bead collection is one concrete result of those two positions meeting. The beads do not need to explain the larger context. They simply hang there—green or blue, heavy, clear, and unwilling to disappear into the background.

Send this to the friend whose birthday or anniversary is coming up, so they know a green or blue hint when they see one.

More from Unity: see what the circle and square in our logo stand for, read about our contemporary art collective, or browse tees, caps and art in the marketplace.

FAQ

How much do the Epica glass bead necklaces cost?

Each necklace costs KES 200,000. You start an order with a 50% deposit of KES 100,000.

How do I order the Emerald Series or Royal Cobalt Series necklace?

Pay the 50% deposit by M-Pesa Paybill 516600, account 944330#EMERALD or 944330#ROYALCOBALT, or by Buy Goods Till 8708846. Then send your receipt on WhatsApp to +254 798 598 220.

How long does a made-to-order necklace take?

Each necklace is made to order and is ready in up to 14 days.

Who makes the necklaces?

They are designed by Unity Art Collective and handcrafted by Epica Jewellery, the Kenyan jewellery brand founded by Sharon Wendo.

What is the difference between the two necklaces?

The Emerald Series uses deep forest-green glass beads with crystal spacers. The Royal Cobalt Series uses intense cobalt-blue glass beads with small blue spacer beads.