Standard jewelry lengths are:
Bead Categories:
Balustrade A long bead with an elaborate turned tapered shape, like a chair leg.
Chevrons: A multilayered glass bead, with a zigzag pattern on the beveled ends. Chevrons were first created around 1500 by the Venation’s, who called them "rosetta beads".
Seed Beads: Small Beads usually 2mm in size or less that are used for stiching and jewelry making, come in hundreds of colors - higher numbers are smaller
Bugle Beads: Tubular shaped beads that can range in length from 2-35mm
Druks: Round & smooth pressed glass beads made in Czech
Charlottes: Sized the same as seed beads with one or two facets, sometimes called one-cut
Chicklettes: Flat Rectangles about 5mm long, 4mm wide and 3mm thick.
Crows: Beads made of segments of drawn tubes of glass of various thicknesses, typically slightly oval in shape due to tumbling
and polishing. Larger than Pony beads. Size 33/0 (8mm, with a 2mm hole).
Delica: Japanese seed beads made of precisely cut glass, making them uniform in shape and size and color. They have large holes compared to their diameter. "Delica" is a trade mark of Miyuki Shoji Corp.
Filigree: Delicate open metal-work
Heishi: Literally translated as "shell", traditionally these are pieces of shell which have been drilled and ground into
very small flat disk shapes and then strung. The term "heishi" has come to refer to tiny handmade beads made of any natural material.
Rocailles: Silver lined seed bead, transparent in color usually with a square hole.
2-Cut: Sized the same as seed beads with six vertical sides on each bead also called "hex"
3-Cut: Sized the same as seed beads but with faceting for sparkle
Pressed Glass: Beads that are made by pressing molten glass into molds
Lampwork Glass: Beads that are handmade by melting slender glass rods in a flame
Millefiori: Italian for “a thousand flowers” it is a type of glass created by artists in Venice, long colorful glass canes are melted together and sliced then pressed into beads, the results looks like beads with tiny flowers in them.
Rondells: Flattened round beads sometimes faceted or with design, the hole is in the center wheel style
Fire Polish: Faceted glass beads that have been heat treated in a kiln to soften the edges and produce a shiny finish that is similar to crystals
Raku: A Japanese ceramic technique that yields irregular surface colors and textures
Porcelain: Also known as kaolin is a type of dense white clay that is glazed and usually high fired to a glassy coating
Crimp: These very small metal beads are usually made of silver or brass. They are used to finish stringing on beading wire,
nylon line, or similar material.
Cloisonne: It is an enameling process that dates back more than 500 years.
The Chinese have made cloisonné enameling a distinctive art form
Watermelon Beads: Usually a flattened chevron oval with green outer coating and red inside.
White Hearts: Bead made of two layers, the inside layer being white, and the outside usually red, orange, or pink.
These are not heart shaped! Most white hearts are antique.
Colors & Types of Glass:
Agate: Usually white glass, with bands or streaks of colored glass in the surface
Crackle: Beads look like cracked ice, the process was invented by the Venetians in the 16th century. It involves heating, cooling and reheating the glass.
Cranberry: Rose swirled with white
Dichroic: Literally means two-colored. Dichroic glass exhibits several colors depending on the angle at which you view it and has a rainbow effect.
Drawn: Glass beads sliced from a long tube drawn while hot from a blob of glass with an air bubble to make the bead hole. The beads are then usually tumbled and/or reheated to soften the edges and give the beads a rounded
appearance. Specifically designates seed, pony, crow and bugle beads.
Foiled: Transparent or translucent bead in which silver or gold foil has been trapped within the body or on the surface of the bead
Givre: French name meaning frost, usually clear glass with a colored core
Opal: Translucent milky glass, sometimes glows
Opaque: Solid color no light will pass through
Satin: Satin like appearance achieved by putting air in the glass
Sommerso:Venetian glass making technique in which a thin sheet of precious metal or a mass of stained glass is incorporated
or submerged (sommerso) in clear or different colored glass. Often beads with colored cores and clear glass on the outside.
Striated: Opaque, translucent, or transparent body with threads and swirls of other tones or colors on the surface or throughout
Tortoise: Amber color with blackish brown streaks - like a tortoise shell
Transparent: Clear or colored, light will pass through
Quartz: Usually clear or light colored glass with color streaks
Finishes:
Aurora Borealis:(AB) a transparent rainbow like finish, inspired by the Northern Lights, invented by Swarovski in 1955
Acid Washed: Acid washes off the shiny surface - similar to a matte finish
Bronze Lined: Bronze finish in bead hole
Ceylon: Pearl like finish, usually over pastel colors
Color Lined: Clear or transparent bead with color lined hole
Glow: Similar to luster but with a warmer almost golden glow
Gold Lined: 24kt Gold lined hole
Iris: Rainbow effect of oil dropped on water, similar to AB
Luster: Shiny, high gloss finish
Marea: Golden metallic rainbow finish, on one side of bead
Matted A.B.: Gives a soft ghost like glow
Matted: Soft, dull or low luster finish, sometimes called frosted
Metallic: opaque metallic finish applied to the outside of the bead
Peacock: Similar to AB but the entire bead is coated and it has a blue/green tint
Pearlized: A pearl like coating
Rainbow: Transparent rainbow colors on surface
Supra: matte metallic finish that resists fading & wear (washable)
Scarabee: Rich, brilliant iris coating, usually over jet glass
Silver Lined: Silver mirror like finish in bead hole
Vermeil: A 14 or 18KT gold finish over a sterling silver core, it is much thicker than standard plating.
Vitrail: Silvery metallic rainbow finish, on one side of bead
For More Great Bead Information Visit : The Bead Database
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