Care Instructions

About Us

Care Instructions

Our Seeds:

Although our jewelry is made with real seeds, our products are not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption.

Important Note about Huayruros:

Huayruros (red seeds with black spot covering one third of its surface) are poisonous if eaten; never ingest them. Keep these seeds out of reach of small children. They are perfectly safe on your skin.

All Handmade and Unique:

Keep in mind that our jewelry is made with natural materials and it is 100% handmade, therefore, there will be slight variations within the same model/product. The beauty that comes from natural differences in shape, size, and appearance is what makes this type of jewelry desirable and unique and do not constitute defects.

Tagua Care:

Tagua is very hard and durable but it is sensitive to water. Do not take your jewelry into the shower or a swimming pool. Water will not destroy the Tagua, but it can cause the seed itself to warp or crack, if submerged for long enough.

Tagua "antiques" a bit over time, often turning a rich yellow-ivory color with age. This is normal. Some Tagua stays snow white and some turns a rich, dark ivory — each tagua piece is unique.

Tagua can be polished by hand with natural waxes (beeswax works well) and buffed to a shine. Generally this only needs to be done once a year at most, and can make an older piece look new again.

Our products can be divided into two main categories:

   1. Items designed and made by K & S owner Andrea Rodriguez-Tarazi. You can identify a K&S Design by the “K&S ” designation.
   2. Items made by artisans working in fair trade cooperatives and workshops in Latin America.   Such items are obtained from fair trade vendors including Pueblito, One World Projects and the Seed Jewelry Center. These items are identified by the Fair Trade Item (”FTI”) designation.

All “K&S” items are designed by Andrea Rodriguez-Tarazi. Andrea has been making seed jewelry for over five years.   She learned the basics of jewelry making from her aunt who also designs and makes jewelry in Colombia. Andrea tries to keep her jewelry simple, colorful and fun as a reminder of the way life should be.

Efforts are made to obtain raw materials from fair trade vendors whenever possible. The seeds used in our jewelry include the following: Tagua Nut, Acai seeds, Chambimbes, Choco Cariados, Choco Diamante, Ojo de Buey, Boca de Pescado, Ojo de Venado, Bombonas, Carambolo seeds and Enebro. Andrea also incorporates pieces of bamboo, stone, and glass into the K&S designs.

Please take a few minutes to browse through our catalog, we are certain you will find a piece that will enhance your eco-chic jewelry collection or will inspire you to start one.