If you are a reader of glossy fashion magazines, you will see pages full of bead jewellery and accessories worn by fashion-conscious celebs.  You may not know however that beads have been made for over 100,000 years and beads found in Algeria and Israel date back to as much as 130,000 years.  Shells were the first form of beads to be used and came with read-made holes formed by parasites.  As men became more adventurous, they included seeds, bone and teeth in their jewellery creations.  Now you will see jewellery made from glass beads, plastic beads and metal beads.

Glass beads are great value for money and come is a vibrant spectrum of colours, shape and finish.  There are many to choose from including lamp work, Murano, Millefiori, Dichroic and Swarovski.

Lampwork – Lampwork is amongst the most vibrant and exciting of beads and are only limited by the artists’ imaginations.  A high level of skill is required and the artist has to practice this technique often to perfect it.  To make lampwork beads, the artist has to melt two rods of glass round what is called a mandrel.

Murano Glass – In Venice the glassworks were considered a fire-risk, so in 1921 the Venetian Republic decided they should re-locate to Murano.  Murano is now internationally recognised as a producer of quality glass-ware.  Products not only include jewellery, but also lampshades, chandeliers and mirrors.

Millefiori – Developed by the Romans in the 1^st century BC, the glass artist uses rods of Murano glass and heats it with a torch flame.  Translated into English, Millefiori means "thousands of flowers".  If you have seen Millefiore in person you will agree that this is a very appropriate name. 

Dichroic – This is the most high-tech of glass as it was developed by NASA for use on space-craft windows, solar cells, astronaut visors and aerospace optics.  The bead is formed with a multi-layer coating on glass and fired to extremely high temperatures.  This is an immensely popular form of glass as it has stunning qualities.  When you tilt the jewellery an amazing array of colours appear.

Swarovski – In 1862 when Daniel Swarovski was still a young boy he was fascinated by how light reflected off crystal.  Then when he was just 21 years old he was inspired to develop technology to cut the crystal to match the beauty of diamonds.  Swarovski is now amongst the world’s most respected crystal manufacturers and not only produces stunning jewellery but also figurines and other decorative objects.

BlueWaterArticles.com: - Type of Glass Beads for Jewellery

Shake it Baby is an online jewellery shop selling fashion jewellery brands including Pilgrim and floral jewellery by Paradise