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Your #1 source for name necklaces and the Carrie necklace! You'll just love our Carrie Name Necklace! Monogram necklaces & lace monogram necklaces are the rage!
Worldwide shipping is always free for any name necklace and name jewelry. See how your name or word will look in any of our name necklace styles on our name necklace previewer.
SALE! 10% off beaded Christmas ornaments, tagua nut animal carvings and beaded serving pieces
About Us
We are the sole U.S. distributors for the exceptional line of contemporary handcrafted, functional and decorative African bead and wire art and curios shown including a wide selection of beaded animal key chains (great stocking stuffers!), beaded Christmas ornaments and tree toppers, table top beaded Christmas trees, handmade wire wrapped and beaded flatware and serving utensils including salad servers, cake knives, pie servers and serving spoons, miniature motorcycle figurines, piggy banks, animal figurines such as the popular beaded gecko lizard and the bead and wire “Harley Davidson” style motorcycle figurine.
In 2006 we introduced, what has become our amazingly popular, silver and gold personalized jewelry including name plate necklaces and name rings, in numerous exclusive styles and languages. Our Carrie necklace has proven to be the most popular
Also, as of fall 2006 we have added colorful, Fair Trade African recycled plastic bag animals, of which the plastic bag chicken and rooster are the most famous.
Every season we add more bead and jewelry designs so be sure to visit often! Our exclusive monogram necklace collection is amazing and very popular!
In 2008 we launched our personalized jewelry fundraising program and have introduced name bracelets and name earrings to our personalized jewelry collection.
Our Secret
Our experienced team of South African bead and wire artists painstakingly handcrafts each piece to perfection, producing the finest line of beaded wire art and recycled art available. What’s our secret? We attract the finest talent available with competitive wages. Combined with a safe and pleasant working environment and providing our craftspeople with the finest materials, we bring out their greatest artistic potential ... Wow!
For our name jewelry we work together with the Jerusalem jeweler to create a wide range of exclusive designs to meet everyone’s tastes. Whether one wants the classic script Carrie name necklace as seen on Sex & the City, an Old English name necklace, graffiti name necklace, Hebrew name necklace or Hebrew name ring we’ve got it! We have the widest range of tasteful, funky and script nameplate necklaces plus our Hindi name necklace, Arabic name necklace and Chinese Name necklaces and more are very popular as well.
The Founders
Wow! Imports was founded by the Askotzky brothers. Ron, the artist in the family and admirer of fine handicrafts, found that many talented Israeli and African craftspeople were limiting their sales to the local market and had no mechanism for marketing their creations in the more affluent U.S. crafts market. Together with his wife, Lisa, he dreamed of creating such a mechanism but it seemed like a daunting task. Then his brother, Steve, had the opportunity to see a sampling of these fine handicrafts and was most impressed. One thing led to another and Wow! Imports was formed.
Our Products
Wow! Imports emphasizes African beaded animals, piggy banks, beaded key chains, beaded flatware and serving pieces, miniature motorcycle figurines and beaded Christmas ornaments, recycled plastic bag animals, particularly plastic bag roosters and chickens and personalized name jewelry including silver and gold name plate necklaces, name rings, name bracelets and name earrings. Part of our mission is improving the lives of others. Making the lives of our crafters more pleasant while bringing joy to the recipients of their handiwork is our goal!
Township Art & Crafts
South African black townships are where many unique recycled arts and crafts were founded. Due to the poverty, high unemployment and lack of education and marketable skills many residents had a great deal of time on their hands. Many children and adults passed the time by making all kinds of crafts from waste. They made animals, flowers, baskets, toy cars and carvings and more from wood, stone, paper, plastic, wire, bottle caps and tin cans. These products have become known as township art or township crafts. From among these many amateur artisans were found quite a few very creative and skilled crafters. Today organizations and businesses assist these crafters by providing them with proper training, marketing skills and new materials enabling them to make a decent living. Some have established their own small businesses to market their crafts at craft markets, on street corners, to local shops and even for export. Out of disadvantaged communities, traditional African crafts using indigenous materials have been transformed into beautiful contemporary recycled art, décor and functional house wares! Wow! Imports is proud to be part of this modern transformation of township arts and crafts into beautiful recycled art!
Fair Trade
Wow! Imports buys only from the most ethical third world companies. That’s because everyone deserves to be treated fairly, earn a livable wage and work reasonable hours, while working in a safe and pleasant environment.
Most of our African crafts are made by groups that are members of or certified by Proudly South African, International Fair Trade (IFAT) or Black Economic Empowerment (BEE).
Standard membership requirements for Proudly South African, for example, include:
- The company’s products or services must incur at least 50% of their production costs, including labor, in South Africa, and be “substantially transformed” (in other words a product that is merely imported and re-packaged would not be eligible).
- The company and its products or services must meet high quality standards.
- The company must be committed to fair labor and employment practices.
- The company must be committed to sound environmental standards.
Third world countries are plagued by high unemployment, poor education and diseases such as AIDS, so the crafters who produce our products benefit enormously from your patronage. You could send charity to a third world country, but providing someone with a job is even better. As opposed to receiving a handout, having a job provides an individual with an invaluable sense of personal pride. Buying fair trade gifts from Wow! Imports provides respectable livelihood to disadvantaged artisans.
