Seed beads
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Seed beads are uniformly shaped, spheroidal beads ranging in size from under a millimetre to several millimetres.
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Units of measure
The most popular seed bead size is 11/0 ("eleven-aught"), but sizes range from 22/0 (believed to be the smallest) to 6/0 or 5/0 (the largest). The term "aught" refers to how many beads can fit into a standard unit. The origin of the name is debatable.
Size numbers are also used. Unfortunately online verdors will typically not explain the correlation between size numbers and aughts and millimeters.
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aught size |
mm diameter |
beads per inch |
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6/0 |
3.3 |
10 |
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8/0 |
2.5 |
13 |
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9/0 |
2.2 |
15 |
|
10/0 |
2.0 |
16 |
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11/0 |
1.8 |
20 |
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13/0 |
1.5 |
27 |
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14/0 |
1.4 |
24 |
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15/0 |
1.3 |
25 |
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delica |
1.8 |
20</font> |
By Hank or by Weight
Seed beads are sold either by "hank" or by gram weight.
- Hanks
A hank is unit bundle of strands of seed beads or bugle beads. There are usually 12 strands of 20 inches of strung beads in each modern hank of 11/o beads. Different sizes and types of beads may be sold in hanks which have different numbers and lengths of strands. Different hanks (age, type, size) have had from 8 to 14 strands, and lengths have varied from 8 to 20 inches per strand. For example, Charlotte size 13/0 cut beads are generally on short hanks, containing 12 twelve-inch strands. Some vintage 18/o hanks have had 10 strands of 8-10 inches each.
Czech seed beads are sold from the factories by the hank. They are very often repackaged into tubes, bags, or other containers for retail sale, in quantities varying from 5 grams to 40 or more grams. When Czech beads are repackaged, they are usually sold by the gram, which creates some confusion on how many beads come on a hank. Not every 20 inch strand of size 11 beads weighs the same.
A hank of size 2 bugles or size 11 seed beads generally weighs between 30 and 40 grams, depending on manufacturing variations, coatings or linings. Purchasing Czech beads by the hank is usually a better value than the repackaged beads by far.
- Weight
Japanese beads are sold by gram weight, never by the hank, despite some seller claims on eBay.
Most Japanese seed beads are repackaged for retail sale in manageable quantities based on price codes. More expensive beads may be sold in 2.5 or 5 gram units. Standard Japanese seed beads are usually sold in approximately 10 gram tubes. Thus, a 250 gram wholesale package would fill 25 tubes -- a bit more than the average beader would need.
One major supplier, Miyuki, sells factory packages which contain up to 1kg of beads, and are almost always repackaged into tubes or other containers for retail sale. To accommodate the average "wholesale" customer, whether it be a bead shop or designer, some larger distributors have made deals to receive their wholesale packages of beads in smaller (50 to 250 gram) pre-packaged sizes.
Toho, the other major Japanese supplier, seems to have a more flexible packaging policy. Many of the tubed beads you see hanging in the craft stores are stamped with their name on the bottoms, indicating both a wholesale and retail packaging setup.
Uses and varieties
- Seed Beads
"Seed Bead" is a generic term for any small bead. Usually rounded in shape, seed beads are most commonly used for loom and off-loom bead weaving. They may be used for simple stringing, or as spacers between other beads in jewelry. Larger seed beads are used in various fiber crafts for embellishment, or crochet with fiber or wire.
- Cylinder Beads
During the last decade, a new shape of Japanese seed beads, the cylinder bead, has become increasingly popular. Unlike regular rounded seed beads, the cylinder beads are quite uniform in shape and size and have large holes for their size. Because the ends are flat instead of rounded, work created with cylinder beads has a flat, smooth texture. Rows and columns in weaving line up more uniformly, so pattern work comes out more accurate and even.
There are now 3 versions of cylinder beads:
- Delicas® made by Miyuki
- Treasures (formerly Antiques) made by Toho
- Aiko (http://tohobeads.net/type/cylinder.html) - an all new, extremely precise bead made by Toho, and introduced in 2005
- Swarovski® Crystal Beads
Swarovski crystal beads are also prized by hobbyists. They are a high-lead crystal, have an incredible sparkle and clarity, and are often multi-faceted to resemble gemstones. Styles and colors go in and out of production, so vintage cuts and colors are often prized with a similarly associated price tag.
- Charlotte cut beads
Charlotte cuts are seed beads that have several facets per bead that add sparkle. Called "the most brilliant of all seed beads".
- Other
Most of today's good quality seed beeds are made in Japan or the Czech Republic. Japanese seed beads are more uniform than the Czech ones and have larger holes for the same size of bead. There are also good seed beads from France that are available in historic "old-time" colors and are popular for use in repairing or replicating antiquities.
- Safety Pin Beadwork
A new form of beadwork, now growing in popularity, is stringing beads onto safety pins and then stringing the pins onto a transverse pin past the spring. This creates a handsome lapel pin. The Girl Scouts use these as SWAPs. SWAP stands for Share With A Pal. They are also known as Friendship Pins.
Confusing terminology
Seed beads used by craftspersons should not be confused with Seed Beads™: laboratory-grown beads made of PTFE used to generate seeds of protein crystals.
External links
- Some information resource sites
- The Bead Site (http://www.thebeadsite.com) Includes the Center for Bead Research
- Bead Facts/Charts (http://www.bead-world.com/facts.html) Handy charts from Bead World
- Bead Weights and Measures (http://members.cox.net/sdsantan/measure.html)
- Sun Country Gems (http://www.suncountrygems.com/seed_beads.html) Includes history and basic data
- Seed bead manufacturers
- Toho Beads (http://tohobeads.net) A Japanese manufacturer's site, manufactures Treasures (formerly Antiques)
- Miyuki Beads (http://http://www.miyuki-beads.co.jp) The manufacturer of Delicas®