These sparkly hollow glass beads are sometimes called mercury beads. I first thought that silvered hollow beads were only used for Christmas ornaments. But when I got these I had second thoughts and browsing through the web I found out these were used in embroideries (!) These are blown from a hot glass tube that is in a mold. Hot glass takes the shape of the mold and a row of beads are created. After inserting a color or silver into the tube, the beads are separated by cutting.
These kind of beads were used in clothing embroideries pre 1920-30s but were eventually replaced by plastic sequins and components.
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Here are the beads I used in a pair of earrings
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The frosted finish of the bigger beads makes them look like they're glowing!
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Beautiful shades of orange and pink are joined with Swarovski crystal rhinestones in Light Peach
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The round hollow beads are really tiny!
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The crystal earrings weight so little because of the hollow glass beads used!
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I'm so thrilled to use antique glass beads in these earrings
Neid sätendavaid puhutud helmeid nimetatakse ka "mercury beads". Alguses arvasin, et sellised seest õõnsad helmeid kasutati ainult jõulukaunistuste tegemiseks. Kuid neid helmeid siin käes hoidsin, siis tekkis kahtlus ja kui internetis ringi vaatasin, leidsin, et selliseid helmeid kasutati edukalt tikkimises (!) Need helmed puhutakse õõnsast klaatorust, mis asetatakse vormi sisse. Kuum klaas võtab vormi kuju ning ühest klaastorust tuleb terve rida helmeid, mis on üksteise küljes kinni. Pärast seda kui helmeread värvitakse seest poolt värvi või hõbeda-ühendiga, lõigatakse helmed üksteise küljest lahti.
Selliseid helmeid kasutati rõivatööstusest enne 1920-30ndaid, ning asendati plastikust litrite ja muude kaunistustega.
