Essential Resources

Beading Wire

Discover the essence of beading wire: its benefits for jewelry making, exceptional qualities and crafting potential.

Beadswax

A mixture with a beeswax base, used for bead-based inlay work.

Bead Reamer

A manual or electric tool used to smooth or enlarge the drill hole in a bead. Specialized reamers are available for other materials. See Pearl Reamer.

Beading Hook

Acrylic hook used for attaching beading to lampshades, curtain rods, serving bowls or shade pulls.

Bead Embroidery

Using traditional embroidery or sewing stitches to attach beads to fabric, leather or other surfaces. Commonly used to embellish clothing, shoes and home décor.

Bead Loom

A frame designed to hold multiple strands of thread parallel. A piece of thread strung with seed beads is run between every other thread to create a pattern.

Bead Cap

A bowl-shaped component used to "cap" one or both ends of a bead to add visual interest. Mostly decorative, but also prevents beads from rubbing together.

Bead Clasp

A bead-like clasp that has a magnet, screw, tab insert or bayonet closure. Can include Barrel, Bayonet, Box, Magnetic, Screw and Torpedo Clasp styles.

Bead Board

Flat surface used to design jewelry by offering a single or multiple channels. Some may be soft silicone, others may be flocked, for a no-slip surface.

Bicone

A bead shape, most commonly seen in Crystal Passions®, of two cone shapes joined at the wide bases.

Backstitch

A type of embroidery, sewing and needlework stitch where individual stitches are created in the opposite direction to the direction of the seam.

Aurora Borealis 2X

The AB2X effect has twice the coating of the AB effect, covering the entire crystal. The iridescent rainbow effect is seen on all sides, for the utmost sparkle.

Bugtail

1mm satin cord.

Heishi

This Pueblo Indian term is synonymous with thin, uniform, disk-shaped shell, gemstone and metal beads that are center- drilled and strung in a row.

Brown-Plated

Brown-plated items have a polished copper core, dipped in a secret liquid brown compound. The items are then baked to fuse the coating into the metal.

Gold-Finished

Also called Gold Color or "washed." The base metal is brass or steel and the product is electroplated with a non-standardized thickness of gold.

Focal Component

Any item that is used as the central element in a jewelry design. A focal is the main attention-getter, the "focal point." Sometimes referred to as a "station."

Carbon Steel

A type of steel that contains carbon, with other alloys making up a trace portion. This term is also used generically to refer to steel that's not stainless.

Briolette

A briolette is an elongated, pear-shaped stone covered with bands of triangular or rectangular facets, usually with a pointed end and without a girdle.

Vermeil

Vermeil items are made of sterling silver, electroplated with gold. Vermeil has an equivalent of 2-1/2 microns of 24Kt gold.

Titanium

Neutral gray, lightweight metal. After manufacturing into the desired shape, such as earposts, the base metal titanium can be anodized into six colors.

Bridge Jewelry

A category of jewelry generally thought of as the "bridge" between fine jewelry and costume jewelry. It may use vermeil, gold-filled or sterling silver metals and semi-precious stones such as amethyst, citrine, turquoise, jade, topaz, cultured freshwater pearls, garnet and others. Most bridge jewelry is artisan-made, but it can also be mass produced.

Bead

A generally hard material, in any shape and small to medium size, which contains a hole for stringing.

Troy Ounce

The "ounce" used for precious metals differs from the avoirdupois ounce, used for non-precious metal. One troy ounce = 31.1 g. One avoirdupois ounce = 28.4 g.

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