| Beads are amongst the oldest human art and | | | | fashionable and popular in modern times for |
| technology, dating back 30,000 years. They | | | | all cultures. |
| have been dated back to at least Roman times. | | | | |
| Perhaps the earliest glass-like beads were | | | | There are many types of beads and all are |
| Egyptian faience beads, a form of clay with a | | | | named according to the way they are made, |
| self-forming vitreous coating. | | | | including wound, drawn, moulded,lampwork, |
| | | | Dichroic, furnace and lead crystal. |
| Glass beads are usually categorized by the | | | | |
| method used to manipulate the glass. Most | | | | The Types of glass used to construct these |
| fall into three main categories: wound, | | | | include rod, sheet, soda lime, lead, and |
| drawn, and moulded. There are composites, | | | | borosilicate. The material chosen often |
| such as millefiori, where cross-sections of a | | | | depends on the hardness, colour, durability, |
| drawn glass cane are applied to a wound glass | | | | and size required. |
| core. A very minor industry in blown glass | | | | |
| beads also existed in 19th century Venice and | | | | Nowadays the Czech Republic is a well-known |
| France. | | | | and reputable producer of these object. Both |
| | | | online and in stores worldwide, Czech glass |
| It is believed that the Egyptians first used | | | | beads will be sold for a much high price on |
| faience (a glazed fused quartz composite) but | | | | average than most other types of glass beads. |
| later developed the core, wound and mosaic | | | | These Czech pieces are often used in |
| methods of using glass to make beads and | | | | necklaces and bracelets and are sold in |
| other decorations. They were the first | | | | renowned jewellers across the globe. The |
| culture to have glass-making guilds. | | | | Czech's have a reputation for creating |
| | | | beautiful yet durable glass beads |
| Glass beads, however, were not limited to the | | | | consistently. |
| Egyptians in ancient times. There have been | | | | |
| glass beads found in archaeological sites | | | | Many people enjoy making their own jewellery |
| dated between 2,000BC and 10AD in both | | | | . There are even stores where one can pay to |
| Austria and Switzerland. | | | | make their own jewellery with glass beads |
| | | | that are provided for them. This has become a |
| In modern times, they have become a popular | | | | popular hobby for many people and has |
| form of jewellery, especially in African | | | | increased the recognition of glass beads |
| cultures with necklaces,bracelets, and | | | | across the world. In additon , Lampwork and |
| anklets made of these materials. They can be | | | | other artictic craftybeads are back in vogue |
| extremely colourful and bright, making them | | | | on the jewellery ciruit. |