Home Page Terms and Conditions Hot News Workshops Learn Online Press Blog About Us Contact Us

Customer sign-in

Shopping Basket

Your shopping basket is empty.

EtelageCrystals

Crystals

The Bohemian history of glass can be traced back to the 14th Century.

Czech fire polished beads are shaped in a mould, cut into a round facet, and polished until smooth and shiny using an intense heat. (Hence their name “fire polished”.) We offer you the most comprehensive range of cut glass shapes, sizes, colours & finishes.

Cathedral glass beads are named after the stained glass windows of churches and were first manufactured in the 1950’s. They are pressed and cut, in a way which gives them high light refraction and colour saturation. They are beautifully finished with a metallic cap at the top and bottom of the bead.

Swarovski crystal beads have a much sharper, square cut than cut glass, which creates their irresistible sparkle. Round beads are available in up to 50 facets. The more facets the bead has, the rounder it is, and the greater the brilliance.

Czech Machine Cut Crystal: Glass like Precious Stones can be Cut, Ground & Polished. Manual Cutting has since been replaced by machines. These Crystals have a much sharper (square facet) cut than the fire polished crystal which gives them their irresistible sparkle. Vacuum Coating is the application of layers of metals, their oxides &/or salts create special surface treatments ie Metallic Finishes. The Finish is more expensive due to the technical processes used to produce such precious colours.