PANDORA, TROLLBEADS, CHAMILIA & BIAGI STYLE LAMPWORK BEADS
My charm beads are designed to fit Pandora, Trollbeads, Chamilia & Biagi style European bracelet systems.
The bead holes are lined with either solid sterling silver (.925) or solid copper and the holes are approximately 4.37mm, unless otherwise specified. All holes are large enough to fit Pandora, Trollbeads, Chamilia & Biagi bracelets.
LAMPWORK
Lampworking (also known as flameworking) is a technique used to make glass beads, glass sculptures, vessels, ornaments etc.
Modern lampworkers use a gas torch (either single or dual-fuel) to melt glass rods. As the glass is melted, it is wound around a stainless steel mandrel, which forms the hole. Prior to use, the mandrel must be coated with a substance called bead release in order to prevent the glass fusing to the steel.
Once the base of the glass bead has been wound on to the mandrel, the bead is typically decorated with additional glass or inclusions (silver, gold, palladium or copper leaf, silver or copper wire and mesh, cubic zirconias etc).
Surface glass decorations can include:
stringer work - thin strands of glass pulled from thicker rods
twisties – multiple colours of glass twisted together
frit – crushed glass
millefiori – thin slices of glass with multi-coloured patterns
Round beads can be shaped simply using gravity but more complex shapes require the use of various tools. Some lampworkers shape their beads by hand while others prefer to use bead presses, which ensure consistent size and shape.
When finished, the bead is put into a kiln and annealed, to ensure strength and durability.