Bali Beads

Metal Bali Beads

Soul-Touching Ethnic Charm in Jewelry

The term 'Bali Beads' arose because this style of beads was originally only handcrafted in Bali, Indonesia. Due to their individually handcrafted nature, they are fairly pricey.

Hence, the price factor gave rise to 'Bali-style' beads which are generally from India or China and are very much more affordable for the general public. Offering an elegant & inexpensive medium, metal beads from copper & brass are used to manufacture a dizzying array of styles and looks while maintaining a rustic, ethnic charm.

Both are often quite ornate and are often used with crystal beads to create exotic & original jewellery creations. They are extremely popular with all age groups.

Bone Beads

Bone Beads

from bone comes such unique beauty

Modern Beads from Bone

Most modern bone beads are made from cow or sheep or camel bones. Bone is a durable material that is hard enough to wear well, but soft enough to be worked with nearly any hard tool.

Today, bone beads are popular for trendy bead amulets, often carved with traditional designs for primitive motifs. Since these beads are still hand carved every one is unique. Some of these unique hardcrafted natural beads can be found on ClearlyChosen at attractive pieces.  While most bone beads are cream colored, brown or black they can be found in every color of the rainbow. Many are stained black or brown to make them look old. Others may be colored with analine dyes, but natural is the most popular color.

Bone vs Ivory

Bones are an organic substance made of calcium phosphate and gelatinous protein compound - lending itself to bead making very well. Bone has long been used as a substitute for ivory and at first glance the two look similar. There are some very basic differences. The most obvious is that bone is heavier than ivory. Another is that upon close examination bone and ivory have very different appearances. Bone shows concentric layers and a dry appearance. Ivory, on the other hand, has a crisscross pattern and can be polished to a deep luster because the natural gelatin has not been removed.

Cabochon

What is Cabochon?

An ingenuous cut that highlights your stone

Shaped, Polished, Not Facetted

Cabochon, traditionally, was a gemstone that had been shaped and polished, but not facetted.  Nowadays, it also comes in other materials like cat's eye (optic fiber) and polymer clay.

A cabochon, sometimes spelt as cabouchon, sometimes incorrectly spelt as cabochan is often also referred to as a cab. 

Method of Cutting

Cabochon also refers to a method of cutting ~ "en cabochon" (also called cabbing). This is cutting a bead or gemstone with a convex, polished, rounded surface without any facets.  It also normally has a flat bottom.  The "en cabochon" cut is more often applied to opaque gems than transparent stones.  (Faceting is normally applied to transparent stones, most notably, diamonds). In fact, opaque, asteriated, iridescent, opalescent, or chatoyant stones are very suited to having an "en cabochon" cut as the cut brings out the interesting features of these types of stones.  The stones that fall into these category includes garnet, jasper, bloodstone, moonstone, cat's eye, star ruby, and sapphire.

Particularly with cat's eye, the domed shape of a cabochon cut brilliantly highlights the star or eye of the fiber optic bead; which would not be visible in a facetted cut.

The back of a normal cabochon-cut stone is flat, but with some stones, it may be hollowed out to lighten the colour. The bottom is either polished or sanded.  A flat back makes working and setting the stone easy.

Though the cabochon form of cutting is frequently used for opaque and translucent stones, it is also very effectively used for transparent materials that contain too many inclusion to yield a good facetted stone.  Coloration and patterning provide the major interest in such stones.

The cabochon form of cutting is simple but it can totally transform the look of a piece of rock, bringing out the magic of unique shapes and lines in the rock.

The most common shape of a cabochon stone is traditionally oval but a cabochon can come in a variety of shapes - ovals, rounds, teardrops, diamonds, squares.  Some jewelers cut their cabochons in irregular shapes which are designed to showcase certain features of the individual rocks.

The cut may also vary in size from quite small, for use in earring and rings, to very large, in the form of a centerpiece on a necklace or brooch.  A rock which has been cut into a cabochon may be described as en cabochon, or it may just be called a cabochon.

Cabochon in a Nutshell

• cut, polished, un-facetted
• flat bottom (usually but can also be hollowed)
• comes in many shapes; oval being the most common
• applied to opaque or translucent stones

Cateye Beads

Cateye Beads

What is Cateye bead?

Cat Eye bead is a very popular bead in jewelry making. It has the amazing property of changing hue and reflection points when viewed at different angles and in different light conditions. It usually has a distinctive light band running across it which can look like a cat's eye - hence the name. Cat eye bead is often spelt as cateye and also known as fiber optic (or fibre optics) bead.

With the increasing popularity of cat eye beads, they can now be found in an growing array of colours (including multi-colored beads), shapes, and sizes. The cabochon (flat back) versions are also now quite commonly found.

Crystal Beads

Sparkling Crystal Beads

The wondrous joys of a plentitude of glamorous sparkles

Crystal is glass with more than 30% lead. Crystal beads produce wonderful sparkles. It is this lead that produces the high refractive quality so sought after in crystal.

Amongst all the crystal lead beads, Swarovski crystals have been and continue to lead the pack in terms of desirability, quality, and crystal brilliance.  Its quality is typically labeled"Triple A" and we have only once seen one other non-Swarovski crystal which was able to match the brilliance of the Swarovski bead.  Unfortunately, the manufacturer had to stop production of that particular high-grade crystal because the production cost was too high.  Swarovski crystal uses only high lead content. Typically a full 32% of the glass is lead and lead oxide. The presence of lead heightens the index of refraction - making it look like diamond. And that is why it is also more expensive than any other crystals.

We recommend ClearlyChosen Crystallized™ Library as the most detailed source of all things Swarovski.

The 2 most common but ever-popular shapes for crystal beads are the timeless bicone crystals and the RFC (round facet cut) crystals. The number of cut faces on the RFC crystals are also a popular variation of that type of bead.

These days, more and more different shapes of crystal beads are to be found. Swarovski themselves are constantly coming up with new, unique & interesting shapes for their crystal products, findings, and beads.

Cubic Zirconia

Cubic Zirconia

As Good As Diamonds!!!

Cubic Zirconias, often referred to as CZ, are the most successful simulated diamond. They are more reflective than glass, rhinestone, or crystal and sparkle much more brilliantly.

They are fully faceted synthetic stones which replicate the characteristics of a Diamond more closely than any other gem material; e.g. their refraction, hardness, and specific gravity. CZ are very hard to distinguish from diamond. Even trained jewellers cannot tell the difference between a CZ and a Diamond with the naked eye. The synthesized material is hard, optically flawless and usually colorless, but may be made in a variety of different colors. There are very few substances on earth harder than CZ. With a hardness rating of 8.5, CZ comes close to matching diamond's perfect 10.

CZ are often categorised as synthetic Gemstones. CZ outweigh equivalent sized Diamonds by 65% - 75%. As such, a CZ's size is referred to in carats only as in comparison to diamonds. CZ is more accurately measured in millimeters, referring to the diameter. Because of its low cost, durability, and close visual likeness to diamond, synthetic cubic zirconia has remained the most gemologically and economically important diamond simulant since 1976.

CZ In a Nutshell

• most successful simulated diamond. Almost impossible to tell difference with naked eye.
• almost as hard as diamonds
• optically flawless
• more shine than crystals, rhinestones, glass
• measured in carats only in comparison with diamonds
• usually measure in millimeters (diameter)

Advantages of CZ over Diamonds

Well really! Diamonds are a girl's best friend. But perhaps a girl is allowed to have more than one best friend ... and CZ is definitely a top candidate for that position!

• CZ can come in many dazzling colours
• Cubic Zirconia is also flawless, whereas diamond usually contains impurities and inclusions.
• And CZs are priced much lower than diamonds!!
• The finest CZ's are perfect in clarity. The finest CZ is cut to exacting tolerances, according to the proportions demanded in fine diamond cutting. Finely cut CZ's will have a polished girdle and more fire.
• CZ has slightly less brilliance or sparkle than a diamond and more fire or flashes of color.

Caring for your CZ

Avoid touching CZ stones; the natural oils on fingers can leave a film that dulls the brilliance.

However CZ gemstones can be cleaned with any conventional jewelry cleaner or detergent (preferably without any ammonia). Due to its hardness and durability, you can use a brush to clean off dirt or oil also. Ultra sonic jewelry cleaners may also be used on CZ and will not damage the stone. However, when using soaps or detergents to clean CZ, one should wipe the jewelry dry thoroughly to avoid residue from the soap leaving a film that will dull the brilliance of the stone. Cubic Zirconia should be cleaned frequently to remove oils from skin that also dull the brilliance of the gem.

Gemstone Beads

Gemstone Beads

semi-precious glorious beads

The many meanings of the many precious gemstones around us.

Gemstone beads, being made from semi-precious gemstones, naturally hold more than innate beauty.  They also hold all the depth of meanings associated with the gemstones.

Generally speaking, a gemstone is a stone that is rare, beautiful, and durable (resistant to abrasion, fracturing, and chemical reactions.) Most gemstones have a good hardness and a fairly high index of refraction (sparkle).

It is widely, though not universally believed that gemstone have healing or therapeutic properties. Below are listed some of those associated properties.

• Amazonite: Improves self worth/confidence
• Amber: Lift heaviness, allowing happiness to come through
• Amethyst: Spiritually uplifting and for effective communication
• Apatite: For communication, clearing of misunderstandings
• Hematite: For protection from the negative emotions of others; establishes strong connection between our body & inner spirit

A much more detailed article on Gemstones and their Meanings.

Glass Beads

The Absolutely Versatile Glass Beads

just an amazing array of glass beads to love & own

Glass is one of the most versatile & widely used materials for the creation of beads. Glass beads have been around since ancient times. They back to at least Roman times. Perhaps the earliest glass-like beads were Egyptian faience beads, a form of clay bead with a self-forming vitreous coating.

Beads made from glass come in all forms, shapes, colours, sizes and undergo a huge, dizzifying array of production techniques to produce an endless variety of bead types .. venetian beads, cateye beads, crystals beads, glass pearls, bumpy beads, lampwork beads, etc etc.

The Many Types of Class Beads

Glass beads are normally categorized by the method used to manipulate& create the glass. Most beads fall into three main categories: wound beads, drawn beads, and molded beads. There are also composites, such as millefiori beads, where cross-sections of a drawn glass cane are applied to a wound glass core.

Crackle Glass beads

The technique of creating crackle glass was Invented by venetian glass-makers in the 16th century. The crackle bead is made by immersing in cold water while the glass is molten hot. This causes the glass to crack. It then re-heated, and then either moulded or hand-blown into the desired shape. It is the re-heating of the glass after it is cracked which seals the glass and gives the surface its lovely smooth feel. Crackle beads are beautiful & vibrant beads, adding life & beauty to jewellery creations.

Dichroic Glass beads

Increasingly, dichroic glass is being used to produce high-end art beads. Dichroic glass has a thin film of metal fused to the surface of the glass, resulting in a surface that has a metallic sheen that changes between two colors when viewed at different angles. Beads can be pressed, or made with traditional lampworking techniques.

Drawn Glass beads

Drawn glass is also a very ancient method.

There are several methods for making drawn beads and they all involve pulling a strand out of a gather of glass in such a way as to incorporate a bubble in the center of the stand to serve as the hole in the bead.

In Arekamedu this was accomplished by inserting a hollow metal tube into the ball of hot glass and pulling the glass strand out around it, to form a continuous glass tube.

In the Venetian bead industry, molten glass was gathered on the end of a tool called a puntile ("puntying up"), a bubble was incorporated into the center of a gather of molten glass, and a second puntile was attached before stretching the gather with its internal bubble into a long cane. The pulling was a skilled process, and canes were reportedly drawn to lengths up to 200 feet long. The drawn tube was then chopped, producing individual drawn beads from its slices. The resulting beads were cooked or rolled in hot sand to round the edges without melting the holes closed; were sieved into sizes; and, usually, strung onto hanks for sale.

A modern example of mechanically-drawn glass beads is the micro-bead or "seed bead", so called for its tiny, regular size. Seed beads are the most common type of modern glass bead. The seed bead is a small bead typically less than 6 mm, traditionally monochrome, and manufactured in very large quantities. Modern seed beads are extruded by machine and some, (Miyuki delicas) look like little tubes.

Furnace Glass Beads

Italian glass blowing techniques such as latticinio and zanfirico are adapted here to make beads. Furnace glass uses large decorated canes built up out of smaller canes, encased in clear glass and then extruded to form the beads with liner and twisting stripe patterns. No air is blown into the glass. These beads require a large scale glass furnace and annealing kiln for manufacture.

Lead Crystal Beads

Lead crystal beads are machine cut and polished. Their high lead content makes them sparkle more than other glass, but also makes them inherently fragile.

Molded Glass Beads

These were (and are) made in the Czech republic, in what was once called Bohemia. Thick rods (20cm?) are heated to molten and fed into a rube goldbergian contraption that stamps the glass, including a needle that pierces a hole. The beads again are rolled in hot sand to remove flashing and soften seam lines. By making canes (the glass rods fed into the machine) striped or otherwise patterned, the resulting beads can be more elaborately colored than seed beads. One `feed' of a hot rod might result in 10--20 beads, and a single operator can make thousands in a day.

Wound Glass Beads

Probably the earliest true glass beads were made by the 'winding' method.

Glass at a high temperature high (enough to make it workable , or "ductile") is stretched around a solid core such as a metal wire or mandrel. The wire is treated with some compound to prevent the bead sticking to it, called "bead release." While still hot, the wound bead may be further shaped by manipulating with tools and paddles, by pressing or rolling it on a hard surface like marble (called "marvering"), or by rolling it in a mold.

And while still hot, or after re-heating, the surface of the bead may be decorated with fine straws of colored glass. These are called lampworked beads.

More Glass Beads

There are just so many types of glass beads that they just won't all fit nicely into any one kind of categorization. That being the case, what follows are just more types of glass beads, not necessarily falling into any of the categories above.

Indian Glass Beads

These just denote that they are made in India. And the varieties of beads that are produced in India are wide and endless.

Czech Beads

(aka Czech Republic Beads)
The former Czechoslovakia was the largest manufacturer of glass beads in the mid-nineteenth century.

Ghanaian Powder Glass Beads

These are also known as: Dry Powder Glass Beads or sand-cast beads.  These beads originate from Ghana, Africa.  They are made from scrap glass (like soft drink bottles) which is finely crushed, layered, coloured, put into a mold and fired.

The technique in Ghana originated in the 16th century.

There is yet another method of making powder-glass beads.  It starts with finely grounded glass.  Without the use of molds, the glass fragments are bound together with saliva or gum arabic.  This paste is then spread over a grass stem or bottle core.  After fusing in an over, the beads are usually rolled in other fragments to create colourful designs.

Summary

Even though it may appeal to some to know the various 'technical' names of these beads, today where more and more creative bead artisans are flourishing, the distinction between one type of bead and another is no longer clear cut. It is also becoming increasingly difficult, if not impossilbe, to be able to visually distinguish one type of bead from another.

The most important thing though still remains how the various beads are creatively employed rather than knowing what they are individually called.

Hematite Beads

Hematite Beads

magnetic and non-magnetic beauties

Popular Beads with Metaphysical Meanings

Today, hematite beads are attaining a high level of popularity, especially in the jewellery creative world.

Not only are they very pretty to look at when polished, not only do they hold the traditional symbolic meanings .. but now they come to us in a plentitude of shapes & sizes & Colours! And with the introduction of Magnetic hematite beads, they now can do what no other beads can do & jewellery makers all over the world are coming up with amazingly creative & popular ways to accessorized ourselves.

Hematite

Hematite (Fe2O3) is a naturally occurring iron oxide that is reddish to brown to black in colour. It is composed of splendid rhombohedral crystals that are very heavy and cold to the touch. silvery, shiny opaque stone. This is the stone that looks like it could be metal. Genuine hematite is heavier than most stones and seems cold when you first touch it.

This mineral can also be cut and polished to yield a relatively inexpensive semi-precious gemstone. It can also be polished to such a high sheen that long ago they were used as mirrors. Hematite is made into bracelets, necklace, rings and ornamental figures.

Metaphysical Meanings

This stone is often used as worry beads. It was also believed that it had some protective powers so that in the old days, warriors used to rub their bodies with it in the belief that it would protect them.

Hematite is believed to deepen the connection between spirit and body, and so helps prevent someone from being easily affected or influenced by other people's negative emotions. The reflective quality of the stone symbolizes its ability to help deflect the emotions of others.

Lampwork Beads

Lampwork Beads

ingeniously wound into little masterpieces

The creation of lampwork beads is like a labour of love and an artpiece in itself. Lampworking is actually an ancient Greek art of creating glass beads. Each lampworked bead can consist of layers upon layers of glass, shaping colours to achieve desired effects and images.

Lampwork beads is a variant of the wound glass bead making technique. Lampworking is very labor intensive.

Historically ..
In the Venetian industry, where very large quantities of beads were produced in the 19th century for the African trade, the core of a decorated bead was produced from molten glass at furnace temperatures, a large-scale industrial process dominated by men. The delicate multicolored decoration was then added by people, mostly women, working at home using used an oil lamp or spirit lamp to re-heat the cores and the fine wisps of colored glass used to decorate them. These workers were paid on a piecework basis for the resulting lampworked beads.

Modern lampwork beads are made by using a gas torch to heat a rod of glass and spinning the resulting thread around a metal rod covered in bead release. When the base bead has been formed, other colors of glass can be added to the surface to create many designs. After this initial stage of the beadmaking process, the bead can be further fired in a kiln to make it more durable.

In Modern Times ..
Modern beadmakers use single or duel fuel torches, so `flameworked' is replacing the older term. Unlike a metalworking torch, or burner as some people in the trade prefer to call them, a flameworking torch is usually "surface mix"; that is, the oxygen and fuel (typically propane, though natural gas is also common) is mixed after it comes out of the torch, resulting in a quieter tool and less dirty flame. Also unlike metalworking, the torch is fixed, and the bead and glass move in the flame. American torches are usually mounted at about a 45 degree angle, a result of scientific glassblowing heritage; Japanese torches are recessed, and have flames coming straight up, like a large bunsen burner; Czech production torches tend to be positioned nearly horizontally.

Miracle Beads

Miracle Beads

the glowing choice

Miracle beads, also known as Magic Beads, are super-intriguing because they seem to glow in natural light. They also have the optical illusion of having a bead within a bead. Hence the name of these beads.

These magic beads are a form of plastic beads. They are normally very bright and made from some form of fiberglass material. The bead is sprayed repeatedly with a reflective material and finished with an outer clear coating. It is these layers that create the tantalizing illusion of a bead within a bead. It is also what makes the beads seem to glow in natural light.

Originally these beads came from Japan but these days, they can be produced from any country. It is not unusual that they are still often called "Japanese Miracle Beads"

Mother of Pearl Beads

Mother Of Pearl Beads

Nature's own Iridescence comes to our Jewelry Making

Mother of Pearl beads shine with their own nature-endowed iridescence.

What is Mother of Pearl?

Mother of Pearl (MOP) is the iridescent substance that forms the lining of the shells of some fresh-water and some salt-water mollusks. MOP is also know as nacre.

Like the pearl it is a secretion of the mantle, composed of alternate layers of calcium carbonate and conchiolin.

• pearl oyster, found in warm and tropical seas, chiefly in Asia
• freshwater pearl mussels, which live in many rivers of the United States, Europe, and Asia
• abalone of California, Japan, and other Pacific regions

Many people often wonder what is the difference between Mother of Pearl beads and Shell beads. Mother of Pearl is derived from the inner lining of some shells and it has a natural luminance to it. Shell beads however could be from any shell (like clam) and can be made from the other layers of the shell or even from the whole shell.

Background Facts

The term "Mother of Pearls" was coined by the 15th century Europeans. They literally meant it to denote that this was the best and the mother of all pearls. It is easy to understand why it should have earned such a prestigious name: many mother of pearls can look absolutely breath-taking under various lighting conditions. Mother of pearl can have captivating iridescent, shimmering rainbow colours often thought to be reflecting of the shifting colours of the ocean beds.

Mother of Pearl is often associated with June birth dates. So if you are thinking of making some fantastic jewelry pieces for someone born in the month of June, you would not go amiss by getting some glorious Mother of Pearl beads. They bespeak of class and luminance.

Uses

Mother of Pearl is widely used and glamorizes many facets of our lives. It is often used as inlay for jewellery boxes, mirrors, home decor accessories, tableware, and much more. It is definitely used in Jewelry Making and Craft work. Watch faces have been adorned with Mother of Pearl. And without a doubt, there is now an every growing of Mother Of Pearl Beads and other jewelry findings. The variety is ever growing and continues to inspire many to higher levels of creativity.

Even from olden times, mother of pearl has been valued and was used to make a great range of luxury items. Perhaps the most notable and widespread use of these were as Mother Of Pearl buttons. Today such buttons can still be found even though they have largely been replaced by plastic, glass, and metal buttons. Many prestigious clothing names still use mother of pearl buttons for their top range clothing.

In jewelry making, Mother of Pearl beads and other shell beads have recently made a bold and widely welcomed reappearance. Today, it is not only the glorious colours and inner glow that makes the beads and jewelry findings from Mother of Pearl so popular, but also the growing variety and shapes that are being produced.

Plastic + Acrylic Beads

Plastic Beads and Acrylic Beads

Exploding variety, shapes, and colours

Here we will use the term "Plastic Beads" and "Acrylic Beads" interchangeably as they are often used to denote the same thing. Plastic based beads can come in many shapes and colours.

The unique & wonderful characteristic about these types of beads is that they can be easily dyed, whereby the dyed colour is absorbed into the plastic. Hence plastic based beads are increasingly a source of fantastic & vibrant colours. And because they are also generally much more economical than glass or crystal beads, they are very popular alternative in creating all forms of costume jewellery.

A modern day and increasingly popular plastic bead is the glowing Miracle Bead.

Seed + Bugle Beads

Seed Beads and Bugle Beads

The many types and sizes of Seed Beads

There are many types and sizes of seed beads. Below is information that will be useful in your wanderings in the delicate and delightful world of these petite beads.

Types of Seed & Bugle Beads

Bugle Beads

These are small beads that are tube-shaped and long; coming in a multitude of lengths.

Charlotte Beads

These are seed beads with facet cuts, giving them sparkle. The more cuts/facets - the more the sparkle.

Delicas

(aka Japanese cylinder beads)
Delicas are precision-made, perfectly cylindrical size 11 beads. Delicas have a relatively large hole vis-a-vis its small size - making them light. This means you get more beads per gram! Also, because of their relative lightness, they are ideal for bead-weaving projects.

Rocailles

This was originally used to describe a round, silver-lined bead with a square hole.

However today, the term rocaille refers to all round seed beads; regardless of the shape of the hole. Rocaille beads are generally not totally uniform - adding to its interest & appeal.

Sizes of Seed Beads

There is no general agreement on how these beads are measured. Generally, they are measured by their diameter (i.e. perpendicular to the direction of the hole). The larger the see beads number, the smaller the bead. For example, size of 14/o is smaller than 11/o.

As a general rule of thumb, through experimentations, a 11/o size gives about 11 beads strung along a 20mm length. (That could vary depending on the variations in the bead and the source of origin of the beads).

Based on this rule of thumb, the following table gives you a good, close approximation to the size of a bead based on it's diameter measurement.

Spacer Beads + Rondelles

Spacer Bead and Rondelle

when beautiful spacing is important

Spacer Beads

They are also alternatively know as filler beads as often times, they are used to fill up the length of a finished jewellery piece that may be using other more expensive or elaborate beads.

Rondelle beads are also often used in the same capacity as filler beads.

Rondelle Bead

Also known as roundel bead or simply as rondelle or roundel.

Rondelle bead is sometimes also incorrectly spelt as "rondell" or "rondel" - which are correct words in themselves but do not refer to the rondelle beads in the jewelry making world.

Rondelle bead is a subset of the spacer/filler beads as they sometimes serve the same function.

The word "roundelle" or "roundel" refers to the shape - a shape that is not a perfect ball, but rather a flattened ball or saucer shape.

Rondelle beads can come as clear crystal discs, or encircled with chanel-set diamonds or rhinestones. There are also rondelles made from gemstones, rhinestones, metals, hematite, crystal, glass, bone, etc. They are all called "rondelle" due to its shape. However you will also find similar flattened beads like these that are square or triangular. The square ones are called "squaredelle" but very often, they are just lumped together under the category "rondelles". And even though the roundel may be called "roundel bead", when shopping for them, you will often find them under (Jewelry) Findings rather than in the Beads section

Special Rondelle Beads

Many new, fancy, and delightful rondelle beads are making their way into the market. These can really something extra to your finished items.

Swarovski Beads

Incomparable Swarovski Beads

The King of Quality, Desirability, and Brilliance

The uncompromising high standards of the Swarovski beads has made them the high benchmark against which all other beads are compared.

Swarovski products cover a full gamut of high quality items. In the jewelry making world, it is best known for its superb Crystal beads, followed closely by its array of Pearl beads. We highly recommend ClearlyChosen online store as a source of Swarovski beads & findings as a genuine Swarovksi® distributor who offers very reasonable and affordable prices. ClearlyChosen Product Library is also a vast source of information and details on the fabulous Swarovski Crystallized™ Elements product range.

Swarovski is the world's undisputed leading manufacturer and supplier of brilliant cut crystals. Its uncompromising high quality has been lavishly used in the famous creations of fashion luminaries such as Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino and Roberto Cavalli, and many other top designers around the world.

Daniel Swarovski was the founder of the company over a 100 years ago and his philosophy in product perfection, innovation, leading-edge research, creativity are continued in the company's line of diverse products today.

Despite it comparative cost, Swarovski crystals remain unrivalled in their popularity as generation after generation look to Swarovski for perfection in cut & shine. The lead content (about 32% to maximise light refraction), which gives crystals their sparkle, is usually higher than in any other crystals offered, giving it the AAA quality.

Wood Beads

Wood Bead

Natural and Enduring Beads

Wooden beads, or sometimes referred to simply as Wood Beads, are made of wood (duh!). They can come in various shapes like round, cube, oval, spiral, barrel, rectangular and that of various flowers, animals, leaves, etc. Wood beads are also available as wood dangles.

The beads have natural wood color but can be artificially colored, lacquered, painted, carved, burnt, &/or embossed.

Common wood used for making wooden beads are acacia, oak, pear tree, bamboo, pine, teak, and rose wood.

Because they are made from a natural product, variations in sizing, coloration, grain & texture is not uncommon and is often part of its overall attraction.

Wooden beads are perhaps one of the most unobtrusively versatile beads around. They have been used for placemats, bags, bag handles, macrame work, jewellery, curtains, apparel emblishments, etc.