We share with you the detail for the main types of beads, and some of the special effects, used in our jewellery designs.
Terms
AB crystal beads (metallic coatings to beads)
Aurora Borealis (AB) refers to beads that have a metallic coating (primarily silver) on one side that adds a prismatic iridescence to the bead.
Vitrail is a form of AB that has a wider range of colors. These are also heat-fired metallic coatings but come in a wider range of colors than AB such as gold, bronze, and copper.
Iris coating refers to beads which are given an iridescent coating that contains subtle flashes of toning colors.
Alloy metal
Alloys are created by combining two or more metals to form a new material, usually to obtain superior characteristics, such as increased hardness. Alloys may also be made to alter color.
All metal alloys used in production by All Ways You are nickel- and lead-free.
Accent beads
This is a specially selected focal bead or series of unique beads that forms the central theme or focus of attention for the design.
Luster
Luster refers to a durable, transparent, glossy color coating on glass beads that is heat treated like a glaze. This special coating gives a soft, lustrous sheen to glass beads.
Natural Materials
Beads are available from many different types of natural materials including wood, larva, volcanic glass, stone, bamboo, horn, bone, seashell, mother-of-pearl, abalone shell, coral, seeds, nuts, berries, and amber (petrified tree resin).
Spacer Beads
Spacer beads are used between other types of beads to make the feature beads stand out more.
Spacer beads can be metal or small uniform glass, crystal or acrylic beads, which are used to give contrast or provide protection to the main focus and accent beads in the design.
Synthetic materials
The oldest-surviving synthetic (man-made) materials used for bead-making have generally been ceramics, pottery and glass. Alloys such as bronze and brass are classed as synthetics.
Relating to semi-precious gemstones, when creating synthetic materials for the jewellery markets, extensive effort is made to create finished materials that closely resemble the natural material. The most frequently synthesized gemstones are citrine, amethyst, howlite, turquoise and opalite.
Bead Types
Acrylic Beads
These beads comprise synthetic (man-made) resins, polymers or thermoplastic materials, which are formed into shapes or applied to the surface of other beads to give them color or luster. Due to improvements in technology acrylic beads are an economical alternative to glass and crystal, as the material is highly durable and light to wear. They are suitable for a wide range of applications, and some acrylic beads rival glass and wooden beads in their quality and attractiveness.
The most remarkable acrylic beads are the Miracle beads.
African trade beads
African Trade beads may be antique beads that were manufactured in Europe and used for trade during the colonial period; or they may have been made in West Africa by and for Africans, such as Mauritanian Kiffa beads, Ghanaian and Nigerian powder glass beads, or African-made brass beads.
Austrian crystal
Austrian crystal is a generic term for faceted lead-crystal beads. This highly prized form of crystal is a spectacular and expensive crystal glass bead, and when placed as accent pieces in special jewellery designs, can compete in beauty and sparkle with precious gemstones.
Cat’s Eye beads
These beads are made from fiber-optic materials which results in beads with luminous striations, which flash as they change angles.
Cloisonne beads
Cloisonné beads are made of enamel fired on a metallic base, to produce a mosaic or stained-glass effect. These beads are highly decorative and come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Coated Beads
Also known as dyed beads, these coatings are generally used to create unique shades and dual-tone color combinations that are usually un-achievable or expensive to produce within the glass.
Crystal Beads
High quality faceted glass beads. Crystals can be cut into many different shapes such as bicones, rivolis, ovals, oblongs, rounds and rondelles. These beads are characterised by their mesmerising refraction of light and fabulous sparkle.
Czech Crystal
Czech crystal beads are often deemed the best quality pressed glass beads in the world. These beads are made in the Czech Republic where the craft dates back to the 14th century, though production was depressed under communist rule. Their workmanship and quality has an excellent reputation.
Drawbench beads
These beads can be either opaque or transparent, and have beautiful artistic swirling or splashed patterns which can be either sprayed onto their surfaces or swirled into the glass before being fired.
Fire Polished Beads
Fire polished beads are faceted Czech crystals, which are passed back through a raw flame to partially melt the surface. This leads to hugely increased shine and quality to the bead, making fire polished beads some of the most desirable faceted crystals available.
Glass beads
Glass beads have been used in jewellery since ancient times. Today, there are a vast variety of different types to choose from. Some popular types include pressed glass beads, lampworked or flameworked glass beads, dichroic glass beads, millefiori glass beads, seed beads, glass pearls and frosted glass beads.
Lampworked beads
Lampworked beads are handmade one at a time by melting slender glass rods with a flame torch. The hot glass is carefully wrapped around a coated wire, which, when removed, forms the hole of the bead. These beads can be made with many different colours and layers of glass and may be highly decorated.
Metal beads
Most metal beads are alloys, and comprise a blend of the base metals to achieve the best effects for use in jewellery.
In our descriptions of jewellery pieces on offer, any reference to gold, silver, platinum, or brass always refers to the colour of the finished alloys used, and not to a precious metal.
Miracle beads
Miracle beads, also known as Magic Beads, are ultra-intriguing because they seem to glow by themselves in natural light as well as night lights.
During manufacture, Miracle Beads begin as a lucite core with a silver mirror-plated finish. They are then sprayed with multiple layers of tinted or clear acrylic and reflective materials and finished with an outer clear UV-inhibiting coating. These combined components give the beads a wonderful optical-illusion 3-D effect, a tantalising illusion of depth, and a spectacular ability to refract light.
Pearl Beads
Pearl beads are either genuine freshwater pearls, clam-shell pearls or coated glass pearls. Each type has varying degrees of quality associated with them, but generally freshwater pearls are more expensive and sought after than glass pearls.
Pearlescent beads
A pearlescent bead is an opaque bead which has had a pearl-like luster coating applied. A glass, acrylic or plastic bead is dipped in a special coating to give a pearly effect.
Pendants
Pendants are generally large focal charms that are placed in the centre of a necklace. They can be made from any of the materials that are used in jewellery-making, such as semi-precious stones, metal alloys, crystal, wood, bone, acrylic or glass.
Picasso beads
Picasso beads have a spattered or mottled coating on the surface. These beads can be one colour, or a mixture of colours. The coating is usually metal-based which is sprayed onto the beads. The visual effect is an arty painted look.
Seed beads
Seed beads comprise a wide range of small glass beads which are used as pretty spacer beads between focal and accent beads, or in multi-layered traditional jewellery styles.
Semi-precious beads.
This is a huge genre and includes almost any naturally occurring mineral that can be made into beads or decorations. Allways You categorizes freshwater pearls and shell beads into the semi-precious genre.
Natural stone beads are considered either precious or semi-precious depending on the type of stone they are made from and whether or not the stone is considered rare or valuable.
Some of the varieties of semi-precious gemstone beads are: amethyst, citrine, moonstone, tiger’s eye, quartz crystal, rose quartz, turquoise, lapis, apatite, iolite, aquamarine, topaz, peridot, malachite, jade, garnet, carnelian, tourmaline, fluorite, jasper, and agate, among many others.
Vintage beads,
Vintage beads are found in the collectibles and antique markets, and generally refers to items that are at least 25 or more years old.
Wooden beads.
Wooden beads come in a huge variety of shapes, colors, sizes and designs, as well as varying quality. Wood is very versatile material to use during manufacture as it can be turned, sanded, drilled, painted, dyed and coated with ease, and adds a wonderful character to finished pieces.