Natural wood, with the wide variety in colour and graining, has been used to decorate hair since ancient times. Our wooden barrettes are made from sustainably sourced exotic woods from around the world which have been chosen for their depth of colour and finishing qualities. The range of colours found in the woodgrain naturally enhances the highlights of your own hair, setting off your hair beautifully. Soft to the touch, they have a lovely satin feel which will only improve with age and handling. This is a luxurious barrette which you will treasure for years.
Our wooden barrettes come with a dark secret. Wooden barrettes are not easy to find and there is a reason for this.
Binding wood to metal is an age-old problem. As wood continues to expand and contract according to temperature, age and humidity, you cannot simply glue wood to another material. In time the two will break apart.
Our wooden barrettes have been specially made to be lightweight and to last a lifetime. We use a high-tech polymer to bind the ends of the mechanism to the wood. Looking at the back of the barrette, it doesn't look very beautiful. However, the polymer is not visible when you are wearing the barrette in your hair and it means that your barrette will last for years. It is a compromise that we believe makes our wooden barrettes the best. Please take a look at the image above to examine the back of the barrette.
All our wooden barrettes have been hand made exclusively for Stone Bridge, with every one using a high quality French manufactured mechanism for strength and durability. Each wooden barrette takes 10 days to make and finish, and an additional three weeks to fully cure. This is a truly handcrafted product.
Koa Wood
Koa, which only grows in Hawaii, possesses the visually stunning characteristic called chatoyancy that is normally associated with certain semiprecious stones. This is the 'cats eye effect' or holographic shimmer that gives a sense of depth which is quite special to the graining of Koa wood. Koa is on the endangered species list and living trees are protected due to the unique habitat they provide. Wood used for decorative purposes comes only from fallen deadwood, so it is very rarely available outside of Hawaii. The Koa used in Stone Bridge barrettes is of a particularly fine instrument grade. The reflective figuring in the grain of the block used for our current stock of barrettes gives a very beautiful ripple or curtain effect.
Madagascar Ebony
The Ebony tree of Madagascar has a breathtaking black heartwood which we use for our barrettes. The graining is very, very fine and lightly flecked with white, while the famed hardness of ebony allows the wood to polish to a stunning satin shine. The Madagascar Ebony tree is a protected species so wood used for craft is recycled from broken furniture. This source is diminishing, and only tiny numbers of ebony blocks are exported from Madagascar, making this an exceptionally rare wood.
The barrette comes in two sizes. Medium (9.5 cm x 1.75 cm) is most suitable for fine "but lots of it" or medium weight hair, while Large (10.5 cm x 1.75cm) is most suitable for long medium weight hair, or thick hair worn in a half-up or ponytail style.
Customers who purchased a wooden barrette also purchased:
Pearl buckle slide
Marble Block barrette
Baroque buckle slide
Classic Wide barrette
