BEADS

Austrian & Machine Cut Beads & Pendants
(Including Swarovski and Machine Cuts)
Swarovski and other (Czech) machine-cut crystal beads and pendants as well as home decor accessories use the technology developed by Daniel Swarovski in the late 1800s at his workshop in Wattens, Austria. The facet-edges are microscopically identical and fine which contributes to the extra scintillation and sparkle of a machine cut bead. Many of the glass colors are not found in other beads. Swarovski particularly has been successful in duplicating actual gemstone colors such as tanzanite, emerald, ruby, blue topaz, among others. You can usually tell if a faceted crystal bead has been machine cut--they simply effervesce. In addition, Swarovski developed a method to calibrate every stone so that jewelers could use standard settings.

Lined and Coated Beads
Lined beads have a colored coating running down the center of the bead. This lining will wear off with time. Coated beads can be coated in different ways. If the coating is fire-polished after it is applied, it will be more durable than if it is just sprayed on. Some coatings bond to the glass when they are fire-polished and those coatings should never come off. That includes vitrail and luster coatings.

All glass can be scratched and worn with use. A bracelet which is constantly knocking against objects will not wear as well as a necklace which rests against your blouse. The quality of the glass, as well as the addition of dyes and other ingredients, can make the surface more or less resistant to damage. The most durable beads are those which have all the color and other effects inside the glass. Beads with colors and affects applied to the surface are less durable. That includes: plastic-coated or adhesive-coated beads (even if they are fire-polished after being coated) beads with sprayed on AB coatings beads with linings (colored paint or silver in the holes)

Iridescent coatings which are sprayed on will flake off over a period of years. Beads coated with plastic or paint (even if they are fire-polished) will begin to wear pretty quickly. The color in color-lined beads may fade over the years. The silver in silver-lined beads may eventually tarnish.

Vintage Beads?
To some "vintage" means "out of production". To others "vintage" means "decades old". Beads are made in runs. The manufacturer will make the beads for a period of weeks, months or even years, but most styles are eventually discontinued. Thus, almost every bead style, except round beads, will eventually go out of production. It is possible that years later it might go back into production. The manufacturer has to keep changing styles to keep buyers interested. Many sellers call any bead which is out of production vintage.

Bead Mixes
All glass beads from India are crudely made and irregular. Often, the holes contain chalk. In some cases, lighter colors may have smoky stripes (ash lines) within the glass. Remember character in a bead will lend or take away from certain projects. Use India glass beads when looking for a economical piece with character.

Crow Beads
Glass Crow Beads from India. A little less perfect than the Czech crow beads. The slight irregularities actually add character and give them an old time feel. Slightly Irregular-Trade Bead style. Transparent or Opaque.

Alphabet Beads
Alphabet beads will have larger holes than other beads, 1.5 - 3mm metal, glass and acrylic beads will have hole sizes of 0.75- 1.5mm Please keep this in mind when choosing thread for your project. The new Baby size Bead in sterling silver has the smallest hole of all the beads.

Basemetal Beads
Base metal is a catch-all term in the jewelry industry for metals used in costume jewelry. In metal working, “base metal” is any metal that is not one the “noble” or “precious” metals. The term "precious metals" usually means platinum, gold or silver. Examples of base metals include iron, steel (an alloy of iron and other metals), copper, brass (an alloy of copper and other metals), nickel, lead, and tin. In costume jewelry, base metals are often plated with gold, silver, nickel or rhodium. Many plated items are plated first with copper. Many gold plated items have a white nickel plate under the final gold plate. Stay away from basemetal pieces if you have sensitive skin due to allergies.

Bone and Horn
All bone and horn beads are handmade and will vary slightly in color and/or size from bead to bead.

Cat's Eye (Fiber Optic)
Cat's Eye is a type of shimmer like configuration which can be in a number of different specimens, mainly a variety of quartz or chrysoberyl, but not limited to either of these. A crystal is called Cat's Eye, when it basically exhibits a chatoyancy which allows the stone to resemble a cat's eye. Chatoyancy is a jewelry term meaning "reflecting a single streak of light". A chatoyancy is usually caused from the inclusion of straight fibers of asbestos.  It is said that Cat's eye can be used to stimulate intuition and to enhance awareness, as well as being a protective stone and dispelling unwanted energies from ones etheric field. Cat's Eye Fiber Optic beads are manmade. Cat's Eye has a streak of light going up and down and is usually a singular reflection.

Dichroic Glass Beads
Dichroic is defined in the dictionary as “The property of a surface of reflecting light of one color and transmitting light of other colors.” Transmitted colors are what you see when you would look through a clear piece of DichroMagic® glass. Reflected colors are the colors you see when you hold the glass in front of you, and will be the opposite color of the color reflected. Dichroic coatings are produced by vacuum depositing multiple thin layers of exotic materials onto a glass substrate. This creates an optical filter that can selectively reflect and transmit wavelengths of light. A vacuum chamber is needed in order to produce a pure environment for depositing the thin film materials. The vacuum produced is similar to that of outer space. The proprietary evaporants are vaporized in a crucible located in the bottom of the vacuum chamber, by a high voltage electron beam onto the rotating glass above. The glass is also rotated in the chamber through this vaporization process in order to deposit uniform coatings on the glass. Due to the difficult coating process there can be slight differences in color throughout the sheet, or from one sheet to the next.

Fire Polished Beads
Round beads are cut by machine to create the facets, then the beads are drawn through high heat to "polish" them. The heat causes the surface of the beads to become molten, thus making them shine when the glass cools. Fire-polished beads are not as fine as crystal beads that have been polished by other methods (tumbling or buffing), but they are much cheaper. Some of the facets on fire-polished beads may look uneven because the glass doesn't cool evenly, or because the molten glass "pooled" before cooling. Also, the ends of the beads (the portion around the hole) will be round because the machines don't cut there. The very best crystal beads will have uniform facets and will have facets everywhere, including the ends around the holes. But in actual use, no one looks very closely at beads, so there is really no reason not to use fire-polished beads. If, however, you are making a necklace with expensive ingredients real gold findings, lampwork beads, precious or semi-precious stones, etc. you may want to use only the best crystal beads. That generally means using Swarovski beads.

Fire-polishing is used for other purposes than smoothing out facets. Some beads are coated and then fire-polished to set the coating on the bead. Sometimes this process bonds the coating to the glass so that the coating is permanent (as in luster beads), but sometimes the coating doesn't get bonded to the glass (as in painted beads which are then fire-polished). Fire-polished painted beads are fairly new. They can be recognized by facets which look distinct and slightly dark at the edges. Even though the paint has been fire-polished to set it, it can be scraped off with a fingernail

Genuine Stone Look Glass Beads
They have the look of their more expensive counterparts but are very economical. They add charm to every bead project.

Glass Pearls
Of all the types of imitation pearls, glass base pearls are the highest quality. Incomparable quality luster. For economical and fun beading.

Miracle Beads
Japanese miracle beads have a Lucite core with silver mirror plate finish and are coated with several layers of colored lacquer. The “miraculous” effect is the result of light passing through the lacquer, reflecting the mirror core and back through the layers resulting in an illusion of depth.

MIYUKI BEADS:

Miyuki 4x4 Cubes
Miyuki Bugle Beads
Miyuki Delica Beads
Miyuki Drop Beads
Miyuki Magatamas Beads
Miyuki Mixed Beads
Miyuki Seed Beads
Miyuki Triangle Beads
 

We use these abbreviations in our Miyuki bead descriptions:

 AB = Aurora Borealis
 C = Ceylon
 CR = Crystal
 F = Fancy
Galv=galvanized (this finish is likely to rub off, please be careful!)
 ICL = Inside color Lined
 L = Luster
 M = Metallic
 MA = Matte (frosted appearance)
 Met=metallic
 MR = Metallic Rainbow (often called "Iris")
 OP = Opaque
 OPL = Opaque Luster
 OPR = Opaque Rainbow
 R = Rainbow
 SF=semi-matte
 S-MA = Semi-Matte
 Spkl=sparkling
 T = Transparent
 TL = Transparent Luster
 TR = Transparent Rainbow
 TSL = Transparent Silver Lined

(Dyed Beads will wear off also so be careful when choosing colors)

 Pewter Beads
Great in look and style. They do not tarnish like sterling silver.

Plastic Metalicized Beads
Perfect when you need the look of metal beads but the light weight of plastic is needed