Collection: Silver Foil Glass Beads

The majority of beads in this collection are glass silver foil beads made in India – the perfect components for making bead curtains, chunky jewellery, and suncatchers.

Big, bold, and beautiful, these beads, which come in a multitude of colours, are glass lampwork beads, which are made by placing a minute sheet of silver leaf or foil between two layers of clear or coloured glass, which is then folded around the metal leaf.

Although this style of bead originated in Venice centuries ago, modern-day artisans from the Indian sub-continent have been able to perfect the methods used by the Venetians.

And as a result, Indian silver foil beads have been enjoying massive popularity around the world in recent times – despite a lengthy and arduous manufacturing process that results in each bead being individually unique.

Our silver foil collection comprises an abundance of colours including Capri Blue, Blackberry, Gold Leaf, Sapphire, Copper, Pale Amethyst, Forest Green, Clear, Pale Topaz, Gold Leaf, Ice Green, and Lilac.

Depending on the actual bead size, (between 10mm and 60mm), each bead comes with a large 1.5mm-3mm centre-drill hole which makes it suitable for threading leather, Tigertail, wire, or fishing line. 

Bead shapes include diamonds, cubes, coins, hearts, tiles, drops, triangles, gourds, twists, cylinders, slabs, rounds, ovals, flowers, and tabular.

A bonus group of beads we have included in this section – is identical in size, shape, and style but come in one colour only – jet black. We call them contrast beads – often used to provide the distinction between the vibrant silver foil-coloured beads.

India is one of the world’s largest bead manufacturers, producing an extensive range of beads that adopt many traditional styles, materials, and treatment processes. The beads made in Varanasi are exported in huge quantities throughout the world. The glass beads used today were not found in India until 1700 and were available only in the kingdom of Saurashtra (now southern Gujarat state). With new sets of tools in the modern industry, the artisans have not failed to create newer types of beads with vast colours and imaginative work.