Bauxite beads are used for making necklaces, bracelets, waste rings and ankle ornaments. Symbolic meaning is added to pendants. The most favored motifs today are the key, the cross, the moon, the cacao and the ritual stool.

Special occasions may also demand the use of specific bead colors. Fx., during child-naming ceremonies nursing mothers and their babies are adorned with white or gray bauxite beads. These colors signify newness and vitality.

A newly born child is also adorned with bauxite beads to signify its formal acceptance into the society.