Weighty beads of brass were objects of wealth in traditional southern African societies. Attached to beadwork garments, they served as status signifiers and beautified the wearer’s ensemble. Commonly employed in groups, strung on fiber loops or fixed directly onto items of clothing, they were often removed and reclaimed by their owners when the garments were sold. Thus such details, once ubiquitous in their original context, are rarely seen in collection pieces. Presented here is a group of brass beads, darkened with age and assembled on a length of string. An old handwritten label is attached, reading “12 metal beads for necklace found at various places.”