Czech Seed Beads from the Halcraft Collection are all made in the Czech Republic in a small city set into picturesque mountains and valleys a few hours north of Prague. They’re made just as they have always been made in the region for hundreds of years. Seed beads got their name from their small size, and the method for producing proper seed beads goes back to the early 1400s in Murano, a small island off of the coast of Italy near Venice. This is where the Millefiori beads were first perfected. Millefiori beads are made in a long-held tradition in which stretching out patterns in glass while the glass was molten hot. The same laws of physics that enable one to stretch out a cane of glass with an intricate design in it, enable one to stretch out a cane with a hole in the center into a long tube with a hole that shrinks at the same rate as the walls of the tube. After these canes of hollow glass are cut down into hundreds of tiny pieces, they are then tumbled in polishing machines for over 72 hours, creating tiny, rounded tubes of glass.
Depending on the stretching system and the starting size of the cane, the beads can be created to be extremely uniform inside and out. Many different colors can be made, and the Czech Republic has perfected the art of modifying the surface color of their glass, so these seed beads can come in a multitude of base colors and surface finishes. Halcraft Collection carries hundreds of different colors and finishes of Czech Seed Beads in a variety of sizes, and we know that you will love using them as beautiful and bright additions to any of your beaded jewelry designs.
No products found in this collection
