bugle: a long tubular bead (2-25 mm)
cathedral: describes a transparent glass
ceylon: pearly finish
charlotte: a bead with one flat face or facet ground onto
its surface. (somewhat rare)
crystal: glass made with lead, which produces a high clarity
cut glass: lacks the sparkle of lead crystal
delica: a tubular bead, like a short section of pipe. Very
uniform, more expensive than seed beads.
hank: a unit of seed beads, 10-14 strands 12"-14"
long, weighing about 35 grams
fire polish: a heat treatment to smooth facetted bead surfaces
and maximize gloss
iridescent (also called aurora borealis or AB): a rainbow
finish, usually transparent
iris: "oil slick" iridescent finish, usually
dark, leaning toward one color (blue/green,/brown)
lined: a transparent bead with a color painted inside its
hole
luster: a shiny, semi-pearly coating maximizing gloss
mass: a selling unit of one hundred dozen (1,200) used
for larger beads.
matt: a surface that is non-glossy, usually achieved by acid
etching (also occurs with abrasion from wear, age or grinding,
or from devitrification during a heat process)
opalescent: a translucent glass which transmits less light
that a transparent glass, but more than a waxy or opaque glass.
Varies in degree from "clam broth" to near waxy.
opaque: a glass which transmits no light; a "solid"
color glass
pony bead: a large (6·5·) seed bead.
rocaille: a bead that is silver (mirror) lined, especially
those with square holes
satin: glass containing many tiny air bubble striations
that give a shimmering, tone-on-tone pulled taffy effect
scarabee: similar to an iris finish. May not cover the
entire bead; often just one side shows the iridescence.
seed bead: small glass beads usually less than 2mm diameter,
donut shaped (wider than they are high) Sized by numbers, 11·
being commonly seen (range: 5·-24·). The lower number
= larger bead.
silver lined (S/L): a mirror lining characteristic of rocailles,
also in some bugle and seed beads.
striated: marbled or streaked color
three cut: a seed bead with facets cut onto it (labor intensive,
thus costly)
transparent: clear glass (may be colored, but you can read
through it). Also called cathedral.
two cuts: very short bugle beads; really, seed beads that
were never heat tumbled to smooth their cut edges.
waxy: a glass with qualities of dense translucency or marginal
opacity; some light transmits, giving the glass some depth. uncommon.
white heart: seed beads made with an inner layer of opaque
white glass, and an outer layer of transparent colored glass.
Rare and costly.