Lampwork bead-making is an ancient process which originally used wax or oil lamps to melt the glass - hence the name "lampworking". Today's beadmaker has replaced the oil lamp with a torch. Each bead is created basically from the inside out, starting by heating the glass with the torch to a temperature of about 1700 degrees. Once the glass becomes molten, it is wrapped around a stainless steel rod called a mandrel. Each bead is uniquely formed by layering different colors of glass around the mandrel.

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Swarovski (Austrian) Crystal is the finest quality full-lead crystal, faceted with tremendous precision creating beautiful prisms. Swarovski is unmatched in quality & distinction.