~Ethereal Fire Creations~
Divinely Inspired Original Beaded Jewelry Art
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~The Elements of Beaded Jewelry~
The following is a Glossary of Terms that describe the materials
I use to produce my original jewelry designs.
 
Glass 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. (Excerpt from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_beadmaking)

 

The following are the types of glass beads I most commonly incorporate into my Jewelry-Artwork:

 

Boro beads are beads made from borosilicate glass, a very hard, durable glass which was originally developed for laboratory glass and cookware. Borosilicate beads are, as a result, very durable and hardy, and they can be used in a wide variety of ways... Art glass boro beads can be extremely elaborate, and sometimes quite costly. They typically feature a swirl of colors, and they may vary widely in size; because such beads are hand-blown, they are typically one of a kind. When a glass blower sits down to make a set, he or she makes the entire set at one sitting, to keep conditions as consistent as possible, thereby ensuring that the beads will match, even though they all look slightly different. (Excerpt taken from WiseGeek: http://what.skyaga.com/what-are-boro-beads/).

 

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. The metal coating used was originally developed by NASA for the space program. 

 

Fire-polished beads are faceted glass beads made in the Czech Republic or (more recently) China. They are faceted by machine and then drawn through ovens to make the surfaces molten, and thus shiny when the beads cool. This method of "polishing" is faster and cheaper than buffing and results in a reasonably attractive bead, though generally less perfect than buffed beads.

 

Goldstone is a type of glass made with copper or copper salts in the presence of a reducing flame. The finished product can take a smooth polish and be carved into beads, figurines, or other artifacts suitable for semiprecious stone; in fact, goldstone is often mistaken or misrepresented as a natural material.

 

Pressed glass beads are formed by pressing the hot glass into mold to give the bead its shape. Often pressed beads are made using machines that stamp the shape from the molten glass. The shapes can have holes punched in virtually any direction. The Czech Republic is the primary producer of pressed beads.

 

Seed beads are uniformly shaped spheroidal or tube shaped beads ranging in size from under a millimeter to several millimeteres. "Seed Bead" is a generic term for any small bead. 

 

*(Excerpts on bead types taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bead).*

 

 
Austrian Crystal

Crystal beads (also known as machine cut crystal) are cut crystal beads made with hi-tech precise machinery. Thanks to this state of the art machine cut processing the crystal items achieve outstanding geometry and excellent optical parameters. Many lead crystal beads are enhanced with surface coatings. Aurora Borealis, or AB, is a very common surface coating that diffuses light into a rainbow. Other common surface coatings are vitrail, moonlight, dorado, satin, star shine, heliotrope.

 

Swarovski beads are prized by jewelers and hobbyists. Lead crystals have an incredible sparkle and clarity, and are often multi-faceted to resemble gemstones. Styles and colors go in and out of production, so vintage cuts and colors are often prized with a similarly associated price tag. Swarovski are the most popular crystal beads in sizes 4 mm and 6 mm.  (Excerpt taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bead).

 

*Please note:  The lead used in manufacturing glass & crystal beads becomes bound to the crystal, and is therefore considered to be safe by industry standards.*

 

 
Natural Stones
A gemstone or gem, also called a precious or semi-precious stone, is a piece of attractive mineral (or rock, in some cases), which — when cut and polished — is used to make jewelry or other adornments. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their lustre or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity is another characteristic that lends value to a gemstone. (Excerpt taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemstone#cite_note-0).
 
  
 
Metals
Because of the excessively high cost of precious metals like gold and silver, all of my pieces are made using brass, copper and / or pewter metal components. I try to find lead-safe pewter, although I cannot guarantee the absence of lead in my work. I do avoid using alloys that contain zinc because these are known to cause skin irritation and allergic reactions in some people, (myself included).