Glass Beads - From Murano To Swarovski
Beads have been used in jewelery making for over a hundred thousand years! It all started with shells that were found along the Mediterranean coastline that already had natural holes formed in them from the parasites that lived in them. They have been used for everything from money, ceremonial rituals and to decoration and jewelery. As the years progressed beaded jewellery became an accepted part of the culture of different civilizations, using materials that were found naturally in their environment, like gems, sliver and glass, to create beautiful hand crafted jewelry. Today you can find beads made from almost anything from cheaper plastic, to wood to glass and the other natural materials . Hobbyist and jewelers alike often use glass beads as they are durable, beautiful and good value. Here is a lis of the top five glass beads for use in beaded jewellery making. Millefiori Beads - Millefiori comes from Latin and means "thousands of flowers." These beads date back to 1st century BC in Roman times where the glass artist used rods of Venetian glass and heated it with a torch flame. The resulting look has little particles swirled around in the glass. The same technique is used today using Murano glass. Anyone who has seen Millefiori beads agree that it is the perfect name for this kind of glass bead. Murano Glass Beads – Murano is known world wide for its quality glass-ware including lampshades, chandeliers and mirrors. It is interesting to note that Venice was the center for glass making up until 1921 when the factories were deemed a fire hazard. So, they moved to Murano. Jewelery making would not be complete without beautiful Murano glass beads. Swarovski Beads - Some of the best ideas come from the curiosity of a young child, Young Daniel Swarovski was curious about crystals. Eventually he developed technology to cut crystals to look like diamonds. Swarovski is one of the most respected crystal manufacturers in the world. The make many beautiful objects, including beaded jewellery. Lampwork Beads - Lampwork beads are made using a technique that needs a high skill level and artistic imagination. It take a lot of patience and perseverance to learn the technique. The artist must learn to melt two rods of glass around something that is called a mandrel. What you end up with is some of the most vibrant looking glass beads in the market. Dichroic Beads- This is a space aged technology bead. It is a high-tech of glass developed by NASA for space-craft windows, solar cells, and astronaut visors The bead is formed by putting a multi-layer coating on top of glass and then it gets fired at extremely high temperature. The end result is a glass whose colors change as it is twisted, turned or tilted in different angles. It is an extremely popular form of glass bead to use in jewelery making. The best way to buy glass beads to use when designing your jewelery is to go to a store that specializes in beads. This way you can see and feel for yourself the different qualities of glass beads. It will give you the true sense o what the size it, and the subtle difference are. If there is not a store close by, it would be worth taking a "business" trip to the closest store, usually found in larger metropolitan areas. Once you have a good sense of what they look like and how the beaded jewellery looks when finished, using online warehouse stores will be an option that might save you time and money, if you are willing to buy in bulk. As long as there is a reasonable return policy, you will be fine. |