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Etelage Crystals About 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 Manual Cutting has since been replaced by machines. Machine cut crystals offer quality crystal with extraordinary optical and aesthetic characteristics from the heart of Bohemia. These Crystals have a much sharper (square facet) cut than the fire polished crystal which gives them their irresistible sparkle. The chaton (stones) are further enhanced by means of a reflective layer of genuine silver whose durability is ensured by highly resistant varnish providing protection during general use in jewellery assembly. Many finishes developed in the 1950s are bring produced again as well as some new fashion colours.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.Please note: use an epoxy resin glue to adhere to other materials.