Are water buffaloes killed to make horn jewelry?

No. At Hathorway, we sell exquisite jewelry and accessories that are crafted using genuine horns of water buffalos. The first thing that many people ask is “are you killing the water buffalo just for their horns?” While it is easy to associate water buffalo horns to elephant tusks and rhino horns, the answer is NO. Water buffaloes are not killed for their horns.

These water buffaloes are an integral part of life in Vietnam. They are not hunted but are farmed raised to be a part of the food or agricultural industry. They provide milk as a source of calcium for the family and are used for agricultural purposes where neither humans nor machines could easily maneuver through the deep, muddy fields.

Water buffalo being led along rice paddy in Mai Chau Valley by Declan McCullagh

When these creatures die, nothing goes to waste - everything is repurposed. The water buffaloes provide families with meat for hearty Vietnamese dishes, beautiful leather for luxurious handbags and clothing, and elegant jewelry and accessories through their bones and horns.

Today, many jewelry and accessories made of buffalo horns come from the water buffaloes in the mountainous provinces of Cao Bang, Lao Cai, Ha Giang in Vietnam, as well as Laos, Cambodia and other countries in Africa.

Cao Bằng Province in Vietnam from Wikipedia

With horns coming from these different areas, we are able to design and create buffalo horn jewelry and accessories made with beautiful color variations of sand, chocolate, caramel, onyx and cream. We could go on about the gorgeous colors and textures of the buffalo horns, but we’ll save that for another post.

Color variations from our Horn Bangles by Hathorway

In the meantime, check out our other buffalo horn jewelry & accessories.