Pressed or molded beads are associated with higher labour costs. These 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 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.
The Bohemian glass industry was known for its ability to copy more expensive beads, and produced molded glass "lion's teeth", "coral", and "shells", which were popular in the 19th and early 20th century Africa trade.
My favorite glass beads are from the Czech Republic. Czech Glass Beads come in a variety of styles, shapes, sizes, finishes; you name it, there is probably a Czech bead for it! Beadseller offers Czech Glass Beads in a variety of shapes, sizes, styles, finishes in an array of colors.
Czech Pressed Glass 10mm x 6mm Teardrop Beads - Drilled thru top to bottom
These teardrop beads are pressed glass. Most pressed glass or poured glass beads have seams. Czech Pressed Glass is no different, however, I find that the Czech pressed glass beads have less seams than other manufacturers of pressed glass beads. Teardrops beads are so versatile. They work great as drops for earrings whether as single drop earrings or multiple drop chandeliers. Alone or with other beads - these are fabulous and have such an awesome range in colors.
Crackle Beads are often just what a design calls for. I have seen designs that used nothing but crackle beads and was surprised with how pretty. They are what the name implies. I have researched to see how crackles are made to no avail - at least nothing is available on the internet. When I was young, many, many, many, many... okay, you get my drift, moons ago - we would take marbles... I told you I was old... and fry them. You read that right. We would fry marbles and from the heat, they would appear cracked. We traded our prized cracked marbles until we each had the perfect collection. I would venture to say - crackles are made in much the same way. Although, the frying pan for these beauties would be rather humongous.
Flowers are never out of style. Unless you are allergic to glass, these flowers will never make you sneeze and even better, never wilt.
Whether you used these as drops on those gorgeous beaded bracelets, as parts of those adorable angels, as unique accents to your home decor, there are many uses for these flowers. The size 13/8 tells us that the flowers are 13mm wide x 8mm hole to hole. I like using trumpet beads and unique beadcaps. Don't knock it until you try it! It is getting more difficult to find beadcaps for those larger beads that are flooding the bead market these days. So when you can't find what you're looking for in base and precious metals - these are fantastic! Speaking of Bead Caps - Beadseller offers a huge array of bead caps for your artisan creations. Czech bead caps are not only great beadcaps but just downright cute.
Czech Glass 14mm x 9mm Curved Leaf BeadsI love leaves. I love taking long drives in Autumn and looking at the beautiful colors. Spring is my favorite season, but nothing can top those gorgeous colors of Autumn. These leaves are top drilled side to side thru the leaf stem.
These are great with those floral charm bracelets. When you need some accents to your designs, consider leaves. Whether they be the Czech curved leaves or acrylic - we will discuss the new lucite beads becoming increasingly in demand in another blog, leaves never go out of style. They are a part of our desire to be in one with nature.
Czech Pressed Glass 6mm Fluted Round Beads
These fluted rounds are super. They come in a very nice array of colors and sizes. Beadseller currently only carries the 6mm Fluted Round, but we cater to our clients and if the demand arrives to add these in larger sizes, we will strive to provide them. They come in the 6mm and 8mm rounds, as well as in a line of AB finish. AB finish stands for Aurora Borealis - giving the effect of a rainbow finish best seen in natural light. Czech fluted rounds are great as spacers in place of metal for softer designs.
Czech Druk 6mm AB Round BeadsCzech Rounds have a unique finish, AB - Aurora Borealis - These unique glass beads have a special finish giving them a rainbow glow when viewed under different types of light. These come in a nice array of colors and sizes. Beadseller currently offers these beautiful AB rounds in Crystal, Blue and Pink in 6mm rounds. Czech Druk AB rounds are also made in 4mm and 8mm sizes. Do you want more colors or sizes, let me know -- I love new beads!
Czech Silver Capped 6mm Cathedral Beads
Czech Cathedral Beads are available in a variety of colors. They are available with bronze capped ends. Beadseller no longer carries the bronze capped Cathedral Beads. They add a flair of vintage feel to your artisan designs. I use cathedral beads in my victorian designs. They add the perfect touch. These are gorgeous glass beads. Cathedral beads come in 6mm, 8mm and 10mm sizes. Beadseller carries the 6mm in a wide array of colors.
Unique Bracelet by Judy Lynn of Jades Creations
These beautiful Jablonex® Czech fire-polished faceted glass Cathedral Beads have silver plated caps. Great for all of your artisan designs - Looking for beads that will give your creations a vintage feel? These are perfect!
Jablonex ® Czech Dipped Decor Druk Beads
These beautiful 8mm Round Jablonex ® Czech dipped decor druk beads are made in the Czech Republic. The special dipping process adds color brilliance to fire-polished beads.
Clear glass beads are strung, tied on a special dipping frame and dipped several times in a special dying solution enhancing color density. The strands are then dried in a special air-filtered dryer. Czech druk decor beads are available in a variety of colors and sold in strands. Beadseller carries a beautiful 8mm line of Czech druk decor beads. When you have trouble finding just that right shade, don't forget to look at the Czech druk decor beads. Their unique colors are truly worth checking.
Jablonex® Czech Pearlcoat 6mm Pearl Beads 
These beautiful Czech beads are hand-dipped in a special solution using a special process giving them an amazingly lustrous "pearl" like finish. Beadseller offers this beautiful Czech Pearl line in 6mm amazingly rich colors. These are available in other sizes. Another amazing array of colors to add to your bead palette when designing your artisan creations. You can never have too many Czech glass beads - they will increase your color range in your bead design palette. Speaking of palette, Beadseller offers a fabulous collection of Freshwater Cultured Pearls in designer colors - yet another future blog.
Czech Pressed Glass 8mm Flower BeadsCzech Pressed Glass Beads are available in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes - They are a unique glass bead and make a wonderful addition to the Czech Bead family. These are certainly no different. Although not readily available, these are an interesting Czech bead perfect for your artisan creations. Whether used as an accent or the main central point in your design, these are another of the fabulous Czech line that needs attention. Earrings, bracelets, necklaces, hair decor - when you need a little inspiration, reach for some Czech Flowers.
Czech 6mm Rondelle Beads
Czech Rondelle Beads are available in a variety of colors - Beadseller offers the Czech rondelles in 6mm. They are perfect for your artisan designs. If you prefer glass rondelles over metal rondelles or even semi precious rondelles, these are exactly what you want. There is an occasionally color varience, but the uniformity of size is amazing.
Czech Glass Granite 6mm and 8mm Round BeadsWith all the new semi precious beads coming available in granite, it is equally as nice to have the constant in yet another Czech bead. These Granite rounds come in a limited color range but numerous shapes and sizes. Beadseller offers the Czech Glass Granite in 6mm and 8mm rounds. These are the Light Blue Granite 8mm Rounds. The Light Green and Mauve Granite rounds are difficult to keep stocked. These glass granite rounds have a unique granite appearance for a fraction of the cost of real granite. Another plus bead for your bead pallete and artisan designs. We can never have too many beads, so if you need these in a different shape or size - Beadseller strives to please.
Czech Glass 6mm Satin Pearls
I saved my favorite for last. These Czech Glass Satin Pearls are gorgeous. I love satin beads. Despite their lack of flash, they add tecture and depth to your creations. Beadseller offers the 6mm Czech Satin Pearls in seven scrumptious colors:
Dark Green, Dark Purple, Gold, Green, Mauve, Blue and as seen to the right - Purple Czech Satin Pearls are available in 6mm, 8mm and 10mm rounds. Beadseller currently only carries the 6mm rounds; but I can be persuaded - You can never have too many beads!
More about Czech Beads
The technology for glass beadmaking is among the oldest human arts, dating back 30,000 years (Dubin, 1987). Glass beads have been dated 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.
Common types of glass bead manufacture
Glass beads are usually categorized by the method used to manipulate the glass. Most beads fall into three main categories: wound beads, drawn beads, and molded beads. There are composites, such as millefiori beads, where cross-sections of a drawn glass cane are applied to a wound glass core. A very minor industry in blown glass beads also existed in 19th century Venice and France.
Wound glass beads
Probably the earliest beads of true glass were made by the winding method. Glass at a temperature high enough to make it workable , or "ductile", is laid down or wound around a steel wire or mandrel coated in a clay slip called "bead release." The wound bead while still hot may be further shaped by manipulating with graphite, wood, stainless steel or marble tools and paddles, this process is called marvering, originating from the French word "Marver" which translates to "Marble". It can also be pressed into a mold in its molten state. While still hot, or after re-heating, the surface of the bead may be decorated with fine rods called stringers of colored glass. These are a type of lampwork beads.
Drawn glass beads
The drawing of glass is also very ancient. Evidence of large-scale drawn-glass beadmaking has been found by archeologists in India, at sites like Arekamedu dating to the 2nd century CE. The small drawn beads made by that industry have been called Indo-Pacific beads, because they may have been the single most widely traded item in history--found from the islands of the Pacific to Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa. There are several methods for making drawn beads, but 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 strand 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.
The most common type of modern glass bead is the seed bead, a small type of bead typically less than 6mm, traditionally monochrome, and manufactured in very large quantities.They are a modern example of mechanically-drawn glass beads. The micro-bead or "seed bead", are so called due to their tiny, regular size. Modern seed beads are extruded by machine and some, (Miyuki delicas) look like small tubes.
Molded beads
Pressed or molded beads are associated with higher labour costs. These 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.
The Bohemian glass industry was known for its ability to copy more expensive beads, and produced molded glass "lion's teeth", "coral", and "shells", which were popular in the 19th and early 20th century Africa trade.
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