GLOSSARY OF COMMON MATERIALS
AB Coated: Iridescent or AB (Aurora Borealis) can be clear, metallic or opaque, but they have a rainbow-like coating.
Acrylic: synthetic machine molded plastic.
Bone / Horn or Wood / Nut: natural materials left alone or elaborately carved for focal pieces or intricately detailed beads.
Cloisonné: enamel and welded metal decorations on metal surface.
Czech Glass: renowned for their excellent craftsmanship dating back to the 11th century. Made of quality glass, the vivid colors will not fade and are consistent throughout the line. Available in a wide variety of shapes, colors, and stunning finishes.
Freshwater Pearls: are harvested from freshwater mussels, typically farmed in China and are referred to as “cultured”. They come in many shape, sizes, and colors.
Lampwork Glass: decorated bead produced from molten glass at furnace temperatures - creating many shapes including small scale figurines.
BEAD SIZE CHART
NECKLACE LENGTH CHART
These images and definitions
were compiled as a reference only.
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Millefiori: several glass rods fused to create a flower pattern or mosaic.
Murano / Foil: intricate beads inspired by Venetian glass artists, typically incorporating gold or silver foil into multi dimensional layers of glass.
Plated Metal: items have gold or silver film plated to the surface of the base metal (typically copper alloy).
Polymer Clay: clay-like material made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), plasticizer, and pigment.
Precious Stones: rare and costly gems such as natural pearls, diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires (I do not handle precious stones).
Resin: solid organic (carbon based) material, either natural or synthetic.
Semi-precious Stones: natural stones including amethyst, aventurine, carnelian, garnet, opal, rose quartz, and others.
Shell: luminescent mother-of-pearl, radiant golden lip shell and stylish shell heishi beads come together in an incredible selection of shapes, sizes and colors.
Sterling Silver: items are made of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper or other alloy, proportions fixed by law. Sterling silver will "patina" in time, that is, its color will take on an "antique" look.
Swarovski Crystals: highest quality crystal beads, pearls and components in a huge array of shapes, cuts, sizes, colors and finishes.
Tibetan Metal: similar to pewter - an alloy of copper - and sometimes tin or nickel, with a small percentage of pure silver. Its overall appearance is of aged silver, but it can be polished to provide highlights on complex castings.
