The lavish beaded jewelry of the Maasai developed from comparatively modest beginnings. Since glass beads were originally a costly rarity in landlocked East Africa, elaborate beaded adornments only became possible in the second half of the 20th century. There are descriptions and illustrations of early objects in the publications of German and British colonial officials such as Moritz Merker and Claude Hollis, but much has been learned since their time. This paper describes the beaded jewelry and utilitarian objects of the Maasai, including their traditional Maa proper names, as well as the glass beads and other materials used in their construction.