Beads for Jewelry Making - Using Vintage Jewelry Making Beads

Although my fascination with vintage jewelry making began when my mother asked me to re-string a couple of old necklaces. One was made with blue moonstones and the other was made with beautiful white coral. I spent time finding the right components to supplement the necklaces and give them a more modern look.

Using antique beads is another interesting way to add history into your or work

Jewelry Making with Beads Classic Beads - Vintage Beads Make Wonderful Modern Jewelry!

However is also important to arm yourself with the information you need, sot that you buy "the real" vintage beads and at the right price.

See the wonderful beads and findings you can use in your jewelry making at:

The King of Vintage Glass Beads Unique Vintage Beads, Findings, Clasps, and More For the Discerning Jewelry Artist. Elegance that is Affordable.

This is just the first of a series of articles centered on the topic of vintage-beads and vintage jewelry. In these articles I hope to give you enough information to get you started into the ageless passion of vintage beads and jewelry.

I will start with some of my favorites.

Lucite was actually popularized by DuPont in the 1930s as an alternative to the more expensive (and now famous) plastic called Bakelite. It gain popularity in the 1950’s and it was widely used in costume jewelry.

The nice thing about vintage Lucite bead is that it is surprisingly light. Even the commonly found large chunky beads will not weigh down your beads for jewelry making.

As a teenager I remember my parents having Czech crystal beads that they incorporated into their shoes and purses –they owned a leather shoes and purses factory-. At the time I did not like them. Now I wished they had not sold them, they would add a classic touch of beads for jewelry making designs.

Crystal vintage beads have a long history in the Czech Republic.

Originally in the year 1200 crystal beads were made as components for rosaries used by the very large Catholic population.

In the 1550 when costume jewelry came into fashion the Czech manufacturers started making crystal beads that sold for more reasonable prices.

In the 19th century with the introduction of machinery and mass manufacturing crystal beads were mass produced.

During the depression the production of glass beads declined and it was not until the 1950’s that they became popular again – this is the time when my parents had their factory-.