Lampwork beads are glass globes of art made by hand.They can be simple to intricate, plain, colored, clear or opaque,spotted, bumpy, smooth and can have a simple or intricate design on the interior and/or the exterior of the bead.  They are absolutely my favorite to work with!

        

Lampwork beads are made by using a flametorch to heat a cane or rod of glass, then applying the molten glass around a rod called a mandrel. The bead is held over heat while it is worked on, and it takes a lot of skill to keep the bead from losing its shape. Using fine rods of glass, a lampwork artist can apply many colors of glass to the bead to create a geometric or floral design.

           

The surface can be smooth or raised. As the bead cools, it begins to shrink on the outside, but the interior remains hot and expanded which can cause the bead to crack before it is finished. To prevent this, the bead can be placed between layers of insulation, or annealed in a kiln, where the temperature of the bead is slowly reduced. Kiln annealing makes the bead stronger and more resistant to breaking.

Made famous in Venice, wedding cake beads are a type of lampwork bead. They look like little cakes with “icing” of swirls, dots, flowers and aventurine, which consists of metallic bits, usually copper, to give it sparkle.

Millefiori glass beads were made famous in Venice in the 1800s, and the word “millefiori” means “thousand flowers”. Thin rods of different colors of glass are bundled together, with the ends of the rods forming a design, such as flowers. The bundle is fused together, then cross section slices are cut off, jelly-roll fashion. These slices are applied and melted over a glass core. The resulting bead has a three dimensional look filled with flowers or other patterns.

Pressed glass is made by pressing glass into a mold. Beads of many shapes can be made this way, such as flowers and leaves. Imprints can be imprinted into the bead, such as the veins on the leaves. Czech pressed glass is of the highest quality and is what I primarily use in my designs.

Crystal is glass that contains lead & causes the glass to refract light. Crystal glass was invented in England in the 1600s when lead oxide was added to glass, which is made of a mixture of silica and alkali. The lead added to the glass made it stronger so that it could be cut and engraved. The lead content of crystal can be anywhere from 6% to 33%. Crystal drinking glasses are leaded, as are crystal beads. Swarovski crystals, also known as Austrian crystals, are famous and occupy the majority of the world’s market for crystal beads. They are named for Daniel Swarovski, who in the 1800s, invented a machine to cut glass. Swarovski crystals have sharply defined faceted edges that combined with the lead content, add to their sparkle. Although crystal can be cut by hand, today’s crystals are cut by precision machines, then they are polished.
 
Firepolished beads are often called crystals because they are faceted, but they do not contain lead. They are hand or machine cut with any number of facets, then they are heated so that the facets are smoothed. The faceting on firepolished beads has a softer look than leaded crystals, but they have wonderful light refraction and come in beautiful colors. Many contain two or more colors blended together, and some have a core of a different color or material. For example, the core can contain real metals such as copper, gold or silver, which add more sparkle. Many different finishes have been created for firepolished beads. An “AB” finish means “Aurora Borealis” which gives the bead a rainbow effect as it reflects light. Finishes can be a full-coat or partial-coat and include “lustre”, “pearl” and “metallic” among others. The Czech Republic is known for producing the majority of firepolished beads and they are of excellent quality.
 

Crystal and glass pearls are both covered with a pearlized coating, but glass pearls are unleaded, and crystal pearls are leaded, just like faceted crystal beads. The pearlized coating on crystal pearls is more resistant to wear than on glass pearls. I use high quality glass pearls from the Czech Republic and Japan, and crystal pearls made by Swarovski.

Still have questions or want to know more?  Please contact Kimberly!