How to string seeds that cannot be pierced?

[stephanus]

Hello All, I have a large number of seeds from the South African
'lucky bead tree' (Erythrina lysistemon ) that i would like to sring
together for a bracelet etc. The problem with these seeds is that if pierced
- a dificult process anyway - they will eventually lose their marvelous
bright red colour.
So, any suggestions would be appreciated.
Stephanus
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12/07
Thank you for taking the trouble to reply !
I would just like to add that the beads are rather larger than your reseach suggests:
they are in the region of 1cm. long, maybe a mm or two less.
I hope that helps.

[Russ Nobbs]

Interesting question as these appear to be tiny seeds, 3 to 5mm or so.
A google search give some images both of the lovely flower and the seed. One even mentions "They are about 4-5 mm in size and are quite hard which allows them to be used on necklaces." That quote makes me think someone drills them for necklaces.

With a larger seen I would suggest making little cages from wire but for these tiny ones I'm not so sure. There are ready made cages used for tumbled gemstones but these might be small for them. Many rock shops carry the gold and silver plated cage pendants.

There is another coral red seed from some other plant that is poisonous but so hard that it can be swallowed and pass through the digestive tract without causing a problem if the skin is intact. This seed is used to make a glue used in Balinese granulation work, making the beads with the tiny silver dots all over them.  The articles on your seeds make it sound like some parts of this tree is used for human food.

I'll have to consider this a little more and hope I can come up with some more useful answer. Thanks for joining us and asking such an interesting question.