Across the grasslands of West and Central Africa live an estimated 20 million Fulani — also called Peul or Fula — the largest nomadic ethnic group in the world today. Their story stretches back over a thousand years, beginning with Berber herders in North Africa around the 8th century AD, who moved south and mixed with local Senegalese populations along the way.
From there, Fulani communities spread steadily eastward for centuries, from Senegal and Guinea through Mali and Benin and on toward Central Africa, following cattle herds across the Sahel. Some groups eventually settled into farming towns; many others kept to the pastoral, nomadic life that still defines Fulani identity today.
Source: Fulani woman in traditional dress, photo by Umar Faruq, Pexels
Fulani craftsmanship is best known for its goldwork, and nowhere is that more visible than in its jewelry. Fulani women traditionally wear large, crescent-shaped gold earrings — sometimes fanned into five curved “wings” — hammered by hand from sheets of gold rather than cast. It’s slow, exacting work, and the earrings are heavy enough to be a visible marker of status. Unlike many ceremonial pieces, they’re worn daily, not saved for special occasions.
Our African crescent-shaped earrings are cast in that same tradition: the fanned, hand-worked silhouette Fulani goldsmiths have carried across the Sahel for generations.
Explore the World Jewelry collection.
Start with the African Crescent-Shaped Earrings — the same fanned, hand-hammered silhouette Fulani goldsmiths have carried across the Sahel for generations.
