Vintage Costume Jewelry - About Beads

What is a Bead?

A bead is a decorative object that is pierced for threading or stringing and can be used in many types of costume and vintage jewelry in necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and brooches. Some of the finest vintage jewelry designers have hand set beads into their jewelry. Such pieces are prized today.

Different Types of Beads

Several types of bead styles, materials, and shapes exist including:

Art glass beads

Chevron beads

Cloisonne beads

Dichroic glass

Ethnic beads

Faux beads

Fire-polished beads

Furnace glass beads

Fused glass beads

Lampwork beads

Lead crystal beads

Plastic beads (Lucite, Bakelite, celluloid, etc)

Millefiori beads

Natural beads (sticks, horn, bone, nuts, etc)

Paper beads

Poured glass beads

Pressed glass beads

Rhinestone studded beads

Seed Beads

Shell beads

Trade beads

How Beads are Measured

Beads are measured in many ways. The most common ways are by aught size, millimeters, inches, or size numbers, which vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, especially in vintage costume jewelry. In general, however, there is correlation between aught sizes, bead diameters in millimeters and in beads per inch as shown in the bead size chart.