Vintage Seed Bead Sizing & Seed Bead Terms

The term ’Seed Beads’ came from the first use of seed pearls as tiny beads. Now the description of a ’Seed Bead’ is: A Small glass bead used in beadwork.
 
Rocaille - Round seed bead made of hard (non-lead) glass. Rocailles were first made in France and then produced in Venice, Czechoslovakia and Japan. 

Charlotte - A Rocaille with ground facets. The origin of the term is not known. France first produced in the 1800’s and then made by the Czechoslovakia and Italy. The beads were sent to Bohemia to be cut.
 
The Decorative Processes of Seed Beads: 

Alabaster or opal glass - First produced in Italy and then in Czechoslovakia and Japan. This glass has tiny particles such as crystals that make opal glass opaque and alabaster glass semi-opaque. Satin Glass - Many bubbles make the glass look satiny.

Lined Beads - Beads that are coated inside the perforation with paint or silver. Opaque Luster - These are translucent beads passed through a chamber with metallic vapor that settles on the surface. 

Aurora Borealis (AB) Finish - This was not used for seed beads. It is a lustering process using small metallic particles developed by Swarovski of Austria in 1956.
 
Iris - This finish is obtained by an unusual process. Beads are put into a vat of lacquer with tiny metallic particles. Firing burns off the lacquer, leaving a metallic coating. Galvanizing is a term for the same process with a thicker coating. 

Macca Cut Bugle Bead - Is not often called Macca these days, but it is a bugle with a hexagonal shape. These beads are usually black. 

Two- Cuts or Hex Cuts - Short segments cut for Macca Bugles. A smaller version of a hex bugle. 

Three-Cuts - A term for Two cuts faceting by a process of grinding. 

Ceylon Pearl - Made of alabaster glass, either lined or dyed and then lustered. 

Delica - The most uniform seed bead to date! Made in Japan These are short cylinders that have been precision cut with the help of computers.