Seed Beads
Seed beads are small glass beads. Most commonly they have a rounded doughnut shape, but the appearance of this varies between manufacturers. Also popular is a cylindrical shape, often precision made, perfect for very uniform work when producing heavily beaded items or pieces made on a bead loom. Cylindrical beads tend to have a larger hole so they allow for multiple passes of the thread in complicated designs. Other shapes include a teardrop with an off-centre hole (Magatama), triangles, cubes, beads with six sides (hexs), beads with two-facets (two-cuts) and one-facet (Charlottes).
Rocaille is a word that now often is used generically to mean seed bead. Historically, it is a French made ‘seed’ bead with a silver (or gold) lined bead with a square hole (the square hole works as a inner facet to reflect the light).
The variation in size and shape between manufactures means that if you are looking for your project to have a consistent appearance in terms of finish and colour, it is best to complete your work with beads from the same source. So buy more than you think you need so that you don’t run out.
The better quality seed beads are made in Japan and Czechoslovakia.
Seed beads are classified with a number that relates to their size, and the simple rule is the smaller the number the larger the bead. The most common size is an 11/0 (approx 1.8 to 2.2mm wide, depending on manufacturer, with a 0.6mm hole), but seed beads can range from a size 3/0 to a very tiny size 24/0. The 0 here is pronounced ‘aught’. This number is based on the fact that, historically, bead manufacturers used to refer to the ‘standard sized’ beads that they made in the largest quantities as size 0 or null. Smaller size beads such as an 11/0 were therefore beads that were 11 times smaller than the size 0 or null bead.
The bead number is also supposed to tell you how many of that size bead you will get to the inch (2.5cm) when laid hole to hole, but as sizes vary between makers this is rarely accurate.
Bugle Beads
Bugle beads are tiny tubes of glass, either cylindrical or twisted. These come in a variety of lengths, and these also have a number system that relates to their size but the Japanese and the Czechs use different systems. Czech-made bugles have a number based on the number of size 11/0 seed beads that can fit into their length. A #1 is 2mm long, a # 2 is 4mm, a # 3 is 7mm, # 4 is 9mm and a #5 is 11mm. Japanese #1 are 3mm, # 2 are 6mm and # 3 are 9mm in length. Generally bugle beads are approximately 2mm wide.
Bugles can have sharply cut ends, as they are produced as one long tube of glass and then trimmed into the correct length. Try using a seed bead either side to protect your stringing thread.
For information on finishes applied to seed and bugle beads, please check our Bead Glossary page.
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