If you are interested in using beads for jewelry, crafting or other art forms it would be helpful to know about the different types of decorative beads and what they can be used for. It is pretty common for any type of decorative bead to be used for any kind of jewelry making, but some beads are actually not recommended for jewelry making due to their characteristics. There are also other beads that are better suited for arts and crafts instead of jewelry making.
Here are the types of decorative beads, and their uses
Chevron beads – these types of beads are a special kind of glass bead that was originally made for the slave trade in Africa. They are made up of many consecutive layers of colored glass, with the core being formed as a star shaped mold and can have anywhere from five to fifteen points. Also the layers of glass can be of any color, but are traditionally red, white, and blue. These beads are usually used for jewelry.
Dichroic beads – these are glass beads that have multiple layers of micro-thin metals on top of the glass.
Ethnic beads – these are another type of trade bead, but they are used for specific purposes in certain countries. They can be used to make rosaries, used for ceremony jewelry or can be used to make jewelry to be buried with the dead.
Faux natural beads – these beads are basically any kind of imitation of original material such as gemstones, pearls, rocks, minerals, precious metals and ivory.
Fire polished beads – these beads are another type of glass bead, except they are faceted and are very popular to use when making jewelry. They come in sizes from 3 mm to 22 mm. The pattern of the edges are always the same, which is why they can be confused with lead crystal beads.
Furnace glass beads – these beads are usually used for art purposes. And they are made using traditional glass working techniques that are often used to make art glass objects. You can use these beads for other purposes, but because of their design and shapes you mostly find them in art projects rather than jewelry.
Lampwork beads – these are another form of glass beads that are made by using a torch to heat a rod of glass and spinning the resulting thread around a metal rod covered in bead release. After the base bead has been formed other colors of glass are added to create numerous designs.
Lead crystal beads – these are great beads for jewelers and hobbyists. They have a high content of lead oxide, which makes them crystal rather than glass. Because they are crystal they sparkle more than glass beads and are often multi-faceted so that the resemble gemstones. These types of beads are often used for crafts and jewelry where crystal is needed. Do not confuse these beads with fake crystal beads.
Millefiori beads – these types of glass beads are made of plain wound glass bead cores and thin slices of cut cane which are pressed into the bead surface. This technique forms mosaic like patterns
Pressed glass beads – these type of beads are a glass bead that have been made from a mold to give it its shape. These beads can have holes punched into in pretty much any direction.
Seed beads – these beads are pretty much uniformly shaped, meaning that they are all the same shape which is a spheroidal shape. They range in size from under a millimeter to several millimeters. This type of bead is a generic term that refers to any small type of bead that is rounded in shape. These kinds of beads are most often used for loom and off-loom bead weaving, but can also be used for simple stringing or as spacers between others beads when making jewelry. The larger beads are used in various fiber crafts as a type of embellishment or are used in crocheting with fiber or wire.
Shell beads – these types of beads are made from sea sheels from a variety of different shelled fish, such as oysters, abalone, etc. You mostly find these beads used in jewelry, art, and crafts.
Trade beads or slave beads – these kinds of beads are pretty much the same thing as Chevron beads and are used for the same purposes.