Glass beads, crystal beads, and lampwork beads

Glass Beads are one of the most versatile types. Glass is one of the most often used material in bead making, it seems to have first been used in Eygpt and Rome, but also in India. Most glass beads are molded, but some blown glass beads are still made in Venice – these are very expensive.
Crystal Beads are made from glass with lead in it. A clean finish and crisp facets make these beads sparkle. They come in many shapes: round, bicone, teardrop, rondelle, etc. They are most often from Austria. Swarovski crystal beads are the best quality crystal beads, due to the lead content in the glass. They are measured in millimeters. The cheap Chinese crystal beads are also popular in the market, as they are cheaper than Swarovski crystal beads, but they are as shinning and lighting as the Swarovski crystal beads.
Lampwork Beads are artistic handmade beads. Hot glass is spun onto a copper wire (mandrel) over a flame (lamp) making each one unique. The bead can be further worked by adding other pieces of glass from rods called stringers, pieces of gold or silver leaf and millefiore. They can be very heavy and expensive. They are therefore usually used as a focal point in a beaded jewelry piece.
Glass beads, crystal beads, lampwork beads are all made by glass, there are also many other materials used to make beads which are also the common used to create beaded jewelry, such as the Tibetan silver used to form the Tibetan silver beads, which are great for Tibetan jewelry making, resin are used to create resin beads or resin cabochons…
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