Beads facts

Did you know that beads in the Dutch language are often called beads. This is because they are often small objects. Therefore, the definition of a bead is a small object that has a hole, called an eye, eye or hole, in which a thread can pass through to thread it into a necklace, necklace, piece of jewelry or use it as an ornament on clothing or accessories, caps, bags, shoes and, for example, headphones.

Beads are now mainly used for jewelry making and for decorating clothes, bags, fashion accessories and works of art. In the past, beads were also used as an amulet or talisman, prayer cord and as a means of payment. Beads had and still have a magical and religious function.

Old beads and new beads

The oldest beads are known to be more than a hundred thousand years old. The history of the beads tells that they were, for example, given to the grave or they were (and are) still used as a status symbol. Usually made from natural products such as shell, stone and clay or fruit kernels.

Beads have also had many meanings in wedding ceremonies over the centuries. For example, in Africa there are customs in different tribes where the amount of beads determines how attractive the woman or man is.

What are beads made of?

Beads can be made of different types of materials. That ranges from organic, mined, synthetic, handcrafted and fabricated materials. With organic beads you can think of materials such as kernels, seeds, shell beads, pearls, wood, horn, bone, teeth, ivory and coral. There are those who think that the word bead is derived from the word coral. This could be quite plausible.

Mined materials for making beads are, of course, amber, stone, jet, semi-precious stone or precious stones. The handmade man-made materials are glass, lead crystal, pottery, plastic, ceramics, clay, bronze, and brass, also known as metal beads. There are now also the popular plastic iron-on beads that you can use to make all kinds of figures. These are often available at various toy stores.

Nice to know is that glass beads are made because the molten glass is pulled from the glass furnace into a long fine hollow wire. This can be up to 100 meters long. Glass rods are cut from the long wire, which are chopped into small pieces to be polished into beads in a drum with sand. The molten glass can also be twisted around a metal wire (which has first been treated with lime, so that you can easily remove the bead when it has cooled) to make the rods. A newer method is that glass is pressed into a mold as with Miyuki beads.

Beads candy store

Most of our relations who come to our bead showroom for the first time and see our collection say: "It looks like a candy store here". That is very nice to hear, because the bead collection has been built up over more than 70 years. At Glaser, we love helping creative people with our bead collection and will continue to do so.

Fine motor skills

Fine motor skills? What do you mean? You only buy beads if you enjoy doing it. Would you like to try something different? Stringing beads is very relaxing because you are working with your hands instead of your brain. You are forced to think in depth and in shapes and colours, and to combine the weight of the material in your way. Is the eye hole big enough? Anyway, enough challenges. We've noticed that when you work with beads, your brain starts to work in a different way. This is because beads appeal to your body's fine motor skills. Beads are also often used in situations when you feel lonely and it is the new way to clear your head. Resulting in; a New beaded design with beads.

In short, to answer your question: What should you do if you feel lonely. Go stringing beads!. Because when you are busy with your hands your brain gets a different activity so that your focus shifts to making beautiful jewelry necklaces and bracelets for example… How nice is that. Can you give it back to someone. Nice gift idea and original and also from yourself, because it is your design.

Where is the best place to buy beads?

Where is the best place to buy beads? That is of course a good question. With us of course and of course also with other suppliers that you think offer beautiful beads. Today there are many providers available online. If you want to buy new beads, it is best to look at what you find beautiful. Glaser's stock, for example, has been built up over more than 70 years. There are many gems in there.

Beads and music

Beads and music have also been around since the dawn of mankind. Beads are also used in musical instruments especially percussion instruments. One of the oldest beaded musical instruments is the Shekere.

Beads and languages

Beads and languages. The most commonly used words universal are beads and perla. For example, the word beads in the Hebrew language is the same word which also means to rhyme. You could introduce this by comparing the cadence of rhyming versus the cadence of beading on a beading thread. Do you have any fun facts? Let us know and maybe we'll post it here on our beads website.