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To learn everything about our interchangeable clasps, you can check out our guide to the Hiilos Clasp
Or take a look at our Macramé Bracelets with Magnetic Clasps.
Whether they are called Brazilian Bracelets or Macramé Bracelets, these small bracelets made from textile fibers are an essential part of our summers (and springs too!). Popular since the 1980s, whenever we think about vacations, the beach, or surfing, we automatically think: Brazilian bracelets! But what exactly is the origin of these bracelets? In which countries are they made? By whom? How are they made, and with what materials? These are all questions I will try to clarify in this article.
But first, let’s take a moment to consider what the term “Brazilian bracelet” actually includes. In reality, this term covers a wide variety of different bracelets. They all have different stories and origins, and certainly not all of them come from Brazil. Here are a few examples that I photographed in Guatemala.
In this article, I will focus only on what we call Macramé bracelets ?
Different types of Macramé
Three different widths of macramé bracelets.
Contrary to what one might think, these bracelets sometimes described as “Brazilian” are not actually Brazilian at all. In fact, this type of bracelet is not typically found in Brazil but rather in other countries in the Americas such as Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia. As for our bracelets, they come from Guatemala!
Guatemala is a country with an ancient weaving tradition, and even today the production of fabrics and textiles plays a very important role in the country’s economy. Indigenous women of Mayan origin earn a significant part of their income from weaving (Guatemala, along with Mexico, is one of the birthplaces of Mayan civilization). These women learn from a very young age to weave their traditional Mayan garments called Huipil.
Guatemala has a large indigenous population—around 40% of the country’s inhabitants—so it’s easy to understand why weaving is so widespread there. At markets throughout the country, you can find the fruits of their labor: bedspreads, tablecloths, scarves, cushions, belts, and of course… macramé bracelets.
In Guatemala, these bracelets are very common, especially in mountainous regions inhabited by Mayan communities. They are less frequently found in the plains or jungle areas. The women living around Lake Atitlán are among the main producers of macramé bracelets in Guatemala.
How macramé bracelets are made ?
Let’s now look at the manufacturing process of these macramé bracelets.
First, as you might expect, they are made from textile threads. In the past, the most commonly used fibers in Guatemala were wool and cotton. Today, however, synthetic fibers such as nylon—more durable and resistant—have largely replaced natural fibers.
In addition, the colors of nylon threads tend to last longer over time than those of natural fibers (although this depends on the manufacturing methods used for the threads). Nevertheless, cotton, wool, and silk are still sometimes used because they are softer and more flexible than synthetic fibers.
Cotton threads (loose threads in the photo), silk threads (medium spools), and nylon threads (large spools).
Now let’s briefly talk about the macramé technique itself. It consists of tying knots between the different threads used to weave the bracelet. The sequence of knots determines the pattern of the bracelet. There are many tutorials available explaining this technique.
Example: the steps needed to create a macramé bracelet with a “chevron” pattern.
To make double / medium bracelets or cuff bracelets, you simply need to use a larger number of threads (depending on the desired width). As you may have guessed from the previous paragraph, it is not possible to make this type of bracelet by machine. Only careful, time-consuming manual work allows the creation of these macramé bracelets.
It is worth noting that making a single thin bracelet takes at least two hours for someone highly experienced. You can imagine how much time is required to produce double bracelets or cuffs.
Why prices of Friendship Bracelets vary so much ?
Finally, I’d like to talk about the price of these bracelets. On European markets and online stores, you can find “Brazilian bracelets” at many different price points. How can we explain such differences?
First, many inexpensive bracelets are made with very few threads—sometimes only three or four. This is easy to see by looking at the bracelet’s thickness, width, or number of colors. Naturally, fewer threads mean the bracelet can be completed faster—and as we all know, time is money.
Second, price differences can also be explained by the number of manipulations required when working with the threads. With Guatemalan macramé bracelets, a very large number of knots must be tied to create the bracelet. Other types—round, cord, zig-zag, etc.—are much simpler and much quicker to make.
Here, in close-up, you can see the large number of knots that make up a macramé bracelet. It must be handmade!
Here are a few examples of macramé bracelet patterns.
Finally, there are also more commercial reasons. For example, the price paid by the retailer and the quantities purchased greatly influence the final selling price. The more you buy, the cheaper the price per piece becomes. And of course, the final price also depends on the margin applied when reselling to customers.
As for us, we chose not to go through Guatemalan wholesalers. Instead, we decided to work directly with the women who create these bracelets—even if it means purchasing smaller quantities and paying our partners more fairly. This is probably what we call fair trade.
That’s it! I hope you enjoyed this article, and now I invite you to take a look at our Brazilian macramé bracelets.
As you saw in the video at the beginning of this article, at Hiilos we have equipped some of our macramé bracelets with magnetic clasps for greater comfort and style. Our clasps are interchangeable, allowing you to change bracelets whenever you want.
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