Furnace glass beads are recorded as being created, traded, and worn by the earliest civilized societies, from Egyptians to Romans, Vikings to Indians. Hand blown furnace glass beads are excellent in quality and are available with better clarity, more vibrant colors, and greater durability. Manufacturers work with the "master bead crafter" to bring freshly designed, magnificently beautiful furnace glass beads to the world at large.

Process
The traditional way of making these beads is to dip an iron mandrel into glass in a crucible in a furnace. The beads can then be shaped or decorated. After its final heating, it can be knocked off the mandrel because iron cools faster than glass. Because the shapes and sizes of the beads vary enormously, there's no definitive form that can be associated with this process.

Popular Forms
Furnace glass beads are a fascinating, beautiful creation. Once the basic bead has been formed, the glass worker can choose to further ornament the bead by creating dot surfaces, decorating with slices of patterned glass or adding gold or silver foil to the bead. There are nearly as many types of furnace glass beads as there are colors in the spectrum. The various shapes in which these can be found includes cube shapes, disc beads, oval shapes, round etc. Whether creating a necklace or embellishing a lamp shade, furnace glass beads are used in a wide array of decorative artwork.