Swarovski Crystal Birthstone Equivalent Chart

Let’s face it – you can’t ALWAYS use diamonds in your work, but you want to do something with a birthstone theme. Here is a chart of Austrian crystal equivalents to use in place of real gemstones.

January – Garnet

February – Amethyst

March – Aqua

April – Clear Crystal

May – Emerald

June – Light Amethyst

July – Ruby

August – Peridot

September – Sapphire

October – Rose

November – Topaz

December – Blue Zircon or Light Sapphire or Montana

How Many Beads Are In That Tube?

So…your directions say, “approximately 1500 size 11 seed beads.” But your bead store sells them by the tube, and can’t tell you how many are in the there – what now? This handy dandy list will help you find the right number of beads.

In a 6″ tube:
Size 8/0 – approximately 1120
Size 6/0 – approximately 315
Size 11/0 – approximately 3080
Size 10/0 Twisted Hex Cut – approximately 2319
#1 Bugles – approximately 2500
#2 Bugles – approximately 1000
10/0 Triangles – approximately 1680
8/0 Triangles – approximately 1100
5/0 Triangles – approximately 390
11/0 triangles – apprx 29.5 grams (about 2105 beads)
8/0 triangles – apprx 28.0 grams (about 714 beads)
4mm Cubes – approximately 336
3mm Cubes – approximately 440
Magatamas – approximately 308
Mini Fringe Drops – approximately 560

3 inch tube:
15/0 approximately 3500

10 Gram Tube:
11/0 Delicas – approximately 1900 delica beads in a 10 gram tube.

What Size Should I make it?

I live near many senior communities, and usually have older people in my classes.  Quite often, they want to make jewelry for their granddaughters.  But what size bracelet do you make for  9 year old? What should the necklace length be?   Here is a useful chart for determining your necklace and bracelet lengths, for adults as well as children.

AGE	BRACELET SIZE	NECKLACE SIZE
Preemie	3-1/4 inches	6-1/2 inches
Newborn	3-1/2 inches	7 inches
3-6 months	4 inches	8 inches
6-12 months	4-1/2 inches	9 inches
12-24 months	5 inches	10 inches
2-5 years	5-1/2 inches	11 inches
6-8 years	6 inches	12 inches
9-13 years	6-1/2 inches	13 inches
Adult Small	7 inches	14 inches
Adult Medium	7-1/2 inches	15 inches
Adult Large	8 inches	16 inches
Adult X-Large	8-1/2 inches	17 inches

What’s an “E Bead?”

Larger seed beads, such as 6/os and 5/os are often referred to as “E” Beads. An E Bead is approximately 4mm in size.

Tool Time: Drill Bit Sizes

I often need to use a micro drill bit set like the one shown below. The main thing I use it for is to open the holes in pearls a little bit. Pearls have such tiny holes, and sometimes even a 24 gauge headpin will not go through. By starting with the smallest bit in a micro drill bit set, I can gradually work my way up to a larger size bit and enlarge the hole very easily.

The drill bit sets such as this and the 20 piece replacement set have confusing numbers – the 12 drill bits in the set are sizes “52 – 74″. Some sets say, “.0635 – 0225.”   But what does that mean to you?

There is a very handy website at http://bobmay.astronomy.net/misc/drillchart.htm

This is a drill bit size chart – and it will tell you in millimeters, inches, and the number designation, as well as a few suggestions as to how to use different drill bit sizes. I have found this extremely useful!

WHY KNOT???

One thing you might like to know about me and my beading habits is that knotting is my specialty.  I learned to bead from Henrietta Verchick, author of Pearl and Beadstringing with Henrietta, so the first technique I ever learned was knotting between the beads.  I still teach knotting lessons using Henrietta’s techniques, and one of the questions I am asked most often in these classes is, how do you know when to knot, and why do you knot?

The only real hard and fast rule is that you ALWAYS knot good pearls.  The reason is two-fold:  The first is, if the strand breaks, you won’t lose your pearls.  Secondly, the substance that makes pearls so beautiful is the nacre, the beautiful coating on the pearls.  If your pearls rub together (or against another bead,) the nacre will wear off and your pearls will lose their value and their luster.  The organic nature of pearls is also why we use silk to knot pearls – you want the natural pearl against the natural silk, not a synthetic.   That being said, I don’t always knot the more inexpensive freshwater pearls.

Another reason to knot is that knotting gives a soft, drapey look to your necklace that you will not get with straight stringing.

I also like to knot because silk comes in an amazing array of colors that can enhance the look of your necklace.   Because the knots show, you have the opportunity to use the beautiful colors of the silk thread to add to your design.  For instance, you can use a soft green with Fancy Jasper, and it will just fade into the background, which is fine.  But if you choose a lilac or tanzanite-colored silk you will see the lovely lavender colors of the stone “pop.”  You can even use two colors of silk for extra zing – I once used an olive-green thread and a peach thread when I was knotting Unakite beads.  Fantastic!

Some Common Abbreviations…and more!

You will see a lot of these abbreviations used in the jewelry world. You are probably already familiar with “mm” (millimeter), but have you ever run across “id?” Recently when shopping online for chain, I ran across this abbreviation, which I learned meant “inside diameter.” They were telling me the diameter within the links of the chain, something important to know if you plan to use headpins to make dangles, for instance. In addition to this list, I want to share with you one of my favorite online resources, the metric conversion website located at http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/conversions.html.

I use this frequently because many of the items I sell come in either yards or meters, and I want my American customers to know how many yards on a 5 meter spool (5.47) and my European customers to know how many meters on a 100 foot spool (30.48.)

So here are a few abbreviations:

cc – cubic centimeter

cm – centimeter

dwt – pennyweight

ft (or ‘ ) – foot

in (or ” ) – inch

g – gram

id – inside diameter

kg – kilogram

m – meter

mg – milligram

mm – millimeter

od – outside diameter

oz – ounce

Why Do Some Small Beads Cost More Than Larger Beads?

Have you ever been surprised to see that a strand of 2mm or 3mm beads were more costly than the same length strand of 8mm? There is a reason that smaller beads are sometimes more expensive than larger.

For one thing, when the stone cutter is forming smaller beads, more rough material goes to waste. Larger beads take up more room on the rough material so there is more finished yield. And don’t forget – you get almost twice as many beads on a strand of 2mm than you do on a strand of 4mm!

Another reason is that making smaller beads is more labor-intensive. Cutting, finishing and stringing tiny beads takes much more time.

One of the nice things about smaller gemstone beads is that they can be used sparingly to great effect. Tiny gemstone beads can be used to pick up the colors of larger cloissone beads, or used for fringe, or for a loop around a decorative button to form a clasp. In the picture below, although you can’t see it very well, I used some 3mm hematite on either side of the Bali beads surrounding the garnets, and they gave just enough of a space and echoed the marcasite so that I was perfectly happy with my design!

I have in my “personal stash” some 2 and 3mm rosequartz and hematite I can’t wait to use!

 

 

Necklace Lengths

Ever hear anyone talk about a “matinee length pearl necklace”? Wondered what the heck was? Well, here is a handy chart to help you know whether you are making a choker or a “princess” length necklace!

Upon looking at this, although the official “lariat” necklace size is 48″ or more, I consider a lariat to be any long necklace without a clasp, which is intended to be worn by looping the necklace over itself like a scarf.  I’d like to hear my readers weigh in on this!

Choker – 14” – 16”

Princess - 18”

Matinee – 20” – 24”

Opera – 28” – 32”

Rope – 40” – 45”

Lariat – 48” or more

Birthstones

Here’s a handy list for your design book. Birthstone jewelry is always popular, and don’t forget that you needn’t be strict about this – crystals in these colors will work just as well!

Birthstones:

January – Garnet

February – Amethyst

March – Aquamarine

April – Diamond

May – Emerald

June – Pearl or Alexandrite

July – Ruby

August – Peridot

September – Sapphire

October – Opal or Pink Tourmaline

November – Topaz

December – Turquoise or Blue Zircon