11mm Blue Striped Barrel Beads [25]

Cost per bead:

8 cents

Bead material:

Glass

Country of origin:

China

Size/shape:

11mm long (hole to hole), 9mm wide, barrel-shaped.

Colors/description:

Glass beads with a rubbery synthetic coating; the bottom coats are blue with coats of red and silver.  The ends of the beads are not coated.

Hole size:

1mm (estimated).

Defects:

The synthetic coating of these beads is not as sophisticated as the synthetic coatings that the Czech manufacturers use.  It is a little rubbery to the touch.  Also, it appears to be applied in layers.  In the bag that the beads came in, I saw some thin strips of coating that had come off a few beads (but there wasn't a lot of them).  The silver and red stripes are a separate layer from the blue.  Thus, the beads may not be as durable as coated Czech beads are.  In addition, the flat ends of the barrels are not coated at all, meaning that you can see the underlying glass, so you will need to find a way to keep the ends covered.

How photographed:

At the window in natural daylight.

Comments:

As stated above, the Chinese synthetic coating is not as sophisticated as coated Czech beads, and I worry about their durability.  However, they do look good, although the ends are not coated.  They should be used in informal jewelry.  (In May, 2012, I reduced the price by 30% because they hadn't been selling well.)  About the colors:  I fixed these beads up at night, looking at the beads under lamp light.  Under lamp light, the blue color looked much darker than the picture made it appear, so I make substantial alterations to the colors to make them match what I was seeing.  It's possible that these beads may look lighter in daylight.