You've found several sets of beads that you
just love. How do you choose between them? What do you look for beyond the
initial eye appeal? Here's my list and this is just the beginning. I
will be adding pictures and addition information so that new lampwork buyers
will have no doubt what to look for.
Ends - I put ends first because it is so important. The bead holes should
should never, ever have any sharp edges. On hand shaped beads, puckered or
indented ends are desired. Many times I'm not too picky about perfectly puckered
ends, but under no circumstance should the bead have sharp ends. Sharp ends can
easily cut your thread or beading wire. Beads made with presses will not
puckered ends, which is perfectly acceptable. One exception is the lentil press
which will leave too much dimple on the ends. The dimple will
make the bead look like a... well, sort of like a derriere. I call them
"Bum" beads when there is too much dimple. However, a small dimple on the
end of a lentil can be desirable as a small spacer bead will fit nicely in
the dimple. When I say small, I mean very small or I will classify the
bead as a "Bum" bead.
Picture above is of the very
first beads I made. I was so scared of the torch!
Dots - Make sure the dots are well anchored on the bead. How do you know
if they are anchored by looking at a picture? The dot should not, under any
circumstance, look like a mushroom. In other words, the dot base should be
larger than the dot top. If the dot is not anchored properly it can easily pop
off.
Chill marks - These are circular
ridges on the surface of the bead caused by touching the molten glass to a cold
tool or press. These marks should be removed by carefully reheating the
bead after it is pressed. If the chill marks are on the bead, the bead
maker did not take the time to burn them off. The chill marks are
distracting and should always be removed.
Encasing - There is nothing like a
perfectly encased bead. The encasing should have few, if any, bubbles.
Sometimes a bead maker will add bubbles like the bubbles found on plunged
florals. Those are intentional and desired bubbles. Encasing is
difficult and some bead makers avoid encasing all together. A perfectly
encased bead will be free of bubbles and will not have any glass from the base
bead pulled up to the surface. An exception is on organic beads when
sometimes a bead maker will want the base glass pulled up to the top of the
encasing. The encasing should also be uniform on the surface. I'd
like to add some pictures here in the future to show you what I mean.
Colors and cost of the glass - There is a huge difference in the cost of
glass depending on color and glass manufacturer. My favorite colors are
naturally the expensive ones. I will be adding additional information
on colors and some of the different glass manufacturers.
Here is a Moretti color chart that uses
pictures of beads instead of just the glass rod -
GemFox Moretti Color Chart
Frit rolled pressed beads - I'm sure many have their own opinion on this
point so here is mine. A lampwork bead made by rolling a base bead in frit and
pressing it in a mold is a very basic, easy, quickly made bead. Although the
bead may be quite nice with beautiful color, it should be considered a basic
bead and priced accordingly. In my opinion it absolutely should be
less expensive than a bead made using details including, but not limited to, dots,
complex twisties, stringer, murrini and/or encased beads, especially when these details are made
using the expensive glass. It takes a tremendous amount of time to make and add
these
details. In addition, frit is fairly inexpensive, relatively speaking, so a frit rolled,
pressed bead is
a "nice and easy" bead.
Hand shaped vs. pressed beads - I
almost forgot this one but I have an opinion on this subject too. I'll
just say for now that hand shaped beads like bicones, barrels and even round
beads are harder to make and take more time than pressed beads. Easy,
undecorated pressed beads made by an experienced lampworker can be made much
faster than any hand shaped beads. Any bead maker that can make consistent
hand shaped beads has put their practice time in and they deserve recognition
for it.
Is the seller a S.R.A.? - There are several
bead sellers that lead you to believe that they are lampwork S.R.A.'s (Self
Representing Artist). A lampwork S.R.A. can not produce hundreds
of sets per week. If the seller has hundreds of sets listed, or thousands even,
they are not S.R.A.'s. The seller may make a statement such as, "the beads are
made in our studio". In reality, it is a factory and is not located in the
U.S. In addition, there are misleading statements made by many sellers of
these beads that the beads are annealed. Five years ago, before I
made my own beads, I made a whole line of bracelets using these mass produced lampwork beads. I was horrified when several beads cracked. Many of
the bracelets I had made already sold before I knew about the breaking. There is a huge market for these factory
beads and the beads are often quite nice. The issue I have is that the beads are misrepresented as S.R.A. beads and that the beads are not
annealed, or not annealed properly. Another indicator of factory produced
beads is price. Cheap means, well, cheap. They may be pretty but
they are not made to last.
