Whether you pick up your favourite glossy magazine or visit a local jewellery store, beaded jewellery is heavily featured and often worn by celebrities. You may not know however that beads have been made for over 100,000 years and beads found in Algeria and Israel date back to as much as 130,000 years. Shells were the first form of beads to be used and came with read-made holes formed by parasites. As time went on, people became more creative and started to use other types of beads, including seeds, bone and teeth. Now you will see jewellery made from metal beads, plastic beads and glass beads.
Glass beads are often used as they offer great value for money and also appear in various sizes and shapes. There are many to choose from including lamp work, Murano, Millefiori, Dichroic and Swarovski.
Lampwork - Lampwork is amongst the most vibrant and exciting of beads and are only limited by the artists' imaginations. A high level of skill is required and the artist has to practice this technique often to perfect it. To make lampwork beads, the artist has to melt two rods of glass round what is called a mandrel.
Murano Glass - The glassworks in Venice were considered a fire-risk by the Venetian Republic in 1921. So it was decided that the works be relocated to Murano. Murano is now internationally recognised as a producer of quality glass-ware. Products not only include jewellery, but also lampshades, chandeliers and mirrors.
Millefiori - Developed by the Romans in the 1st century BC, the glass artist uses rods of Murano glass and heats it with a torch flame. Translated into English, Millefiori means "thousands of flowers". If you have seen Millefiore in person you will agree that this is a very appropriate name.
Dichroic - This is the most high-tech of glass as it was developed by NASA for use on space-craft windows, solar cells, astronaut visors and aerospace optics. The bead is formed with a multi-layer coating on glass and fired to extremely high temperatures. This is an immensely popular form of glass as it has stunning qualities. When you tilt the jewellery an amazing array of colours appear.
Swarovski - In 1862 when Daniel Swarovski was still a young boy he was fascinated by how light reflected off crystal. Then when he was just 21 years old he was inspired to develop technology to cut the crystal to match the beauty of diamonds. Swarovski is now amongst the world's most respected crystal manufacturers and not only produces stunning jewellery but also figurines and other decorative objects.
If you are buying glass beads to make your own jewellery and are lucky enough to live near a craft shop which sells a good selection of beads, this is advisable before buying on the internet. This will allow you to see what the bead looks like and what the actual size is. Unfortunately it can be difficult to find a good craft-shop and the internet may be your only option. Sometimes it can be a disappointment to find that the bead is smaller than expected. So make sure you have read exactly what you are buying. Don't be afraid of emailing the shop for more info if you are unsure of any details.
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