Lampwork beads: Tips and advices

 

If your chain needs a great bead maybe you should think about a lampwork bead. Using one of these jewelries may help you look perfect. So, if you’re decided to acquire a lampwork bead for your necklace here are a few useful tips.

 

Be aware that age is not an essential factor in deciding the quality of beds. So, both old and new beads may be good quality. However this aspect is not always true. As long as the manufacturers are dedicated to their work they can craft great lampwork beads for fused glass jewelry whether they are veteran or new artists. More important than a bead’s age, is its physical quality and uniqueness.

 

Always look for professional manufacturers. If you need to acquire beads it is very important to look for the best producers. They follow the same methods or they always produce high quality objects. Some producers would say that a kiln is not a necessity to create beads. However using a kiln is the thing that gives beads durability. Those manufacturers who don’t know use a kiln properly won’t be able to make high durability products. Most crafter should be able to show you some of their previous work, so don’t buy until you’ve seen it. After seeing a crafter’s previous work, you know what quality level you should expect if you decide to buy lampwork beads from him.

 

Only buy annealed beads. A good bead must necessarily be annealed or in other words, heated or treated. The goal on annealing is to create a durable and high quality bead. Always ask the seller about the way haw the beads were annealed. Stay away from beads which were annealed using a hot blanket a pot or a flame instead of a kiln. Any of these annealing methods will cause quality damage to the lampwork beads. A kiln doesn’t have one hundred percent rate of success but it’s highly recommended over the above mentioned heating methods.

 

A good lampwork bead should have a strong body and no jagged edges. All the sides and curves of a lampwork bead should be spherical and smooth. A bead must not have any cracks or wrinkles. Be very careful and check the bead to see if it has any soft spots or fissures at joints and corners. The stringing spot should also be strong and with no fragile points.

 

The lampwork beads you’re going to buy must be properly crafted. If there are any dots or lines attached to the body of the beads, make sure they are part of the original piece and not artificially attached.

 

If any part of the bead is flexible it means that the lampwork bead was not correctly annealed and you must not buy it. If you tap the bad you shouldn’t see any dusty release coming out from it. If you do see something like this it means that the bead has some.

 

If there is any flexibility at all with any part of your lampwork bead, it wasn't heated appropriately and you shouldn't buy it. You shouldn't notice any powdery bead release coming from your lampwork bead when you tap it. The bead obviously has a design flaw defects. Check if the bead hangs well from your necklace.