See us tomorrow Sunday 30th Sept at Beads Up North! Haydock Park Racecourse, Newton-le-Willows WA12 0HQ. Full details here.
Then Sunday 14th October at Norwich Bead Show, The George Hotel, Arlington Lane, Newmarket Road, Norwich NR2 2DA.
Be among the first to get you’re hands on the very latest beads just arrived in Felixstowe last week.
Say your a MrBead Newsletter reader for a free gift! We’re at over 30 shows this year with a bigger display: All our 2018 Bead Fairs.
Follow Nigel on his personal site at NigelHayMckay.com
Content:
Our New Beads
Measuring Beads
Opal For October
Autumn Bead Fairs
Free UK Shipping
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Some of these new beads are already listed in the MrBead online store, but you can see many more at one of your bead fairs.
Some beaders’ tell me they have shed loads of beads already. But we find new sell.
We can mix our show display, and visitors will always pull out the latest. So if new sells for us: it’ll sell for you too – you need new! Consumers like the latest products to show how up-to-date they are and aware of fashion trend and change.
YOU need fresh stock!
Pictures show our latest beads pulled at random.
See NEW in the shop at MrBead.co.uk or MrBead.com
However, you can’t tell the size of beads from photographs, and some new beaders are not familiar with the sizes.
Size of beads can either be exact or approximate depending on the type of bead. Simple round bead sizes should be exact: 4mm, 6mm, 8mm, 10mm etc. But chip beads, being naturally all different sizes, will not be exactly the size quoted in the sale – some will be longer, but most will be shorter.
Bead sellers usually quote the largest size in the strand, this is especially true with natural pearls. Under 25% of the pearls in a strand may be the full size quoted.
Nuggets, again being natural, will all be different to an average size listed in the sale. Strands of beads are usually 16-inches (400mm) long. Although pearls are normally sold in 15-inch strands and chips in 32-inch strands.
A Choker necklace is 16-inches long, a Princess necklace 18-inches, a Matinee necklace 24-inches, Opera necklace 32-inches, and a Mala necklace of 108-beads can be of any length! A bracelet is usually 7-inches and an anklet 9-inches.
To purchase the bead measure in the picture click MrBead.co.uk or MrBead.com
Australia supplies about 95% of the worlds opal from the outback. Aborigines there believe their creator came down to Earth on a rainbow to bring the message of peace to all humans. And at the spot where his foot touched the ground, opal was born.
The name Opal could have came from many places. In Greek Opallios translates as colour change, and to the ancient Romans Opalus was a stone from several elements. Pliny, a Roman author, wrote that opal combines the sparkle of Almandine, the shining purple of Amethyst, the golden yellow of Topaz, and the deep blue of Sapphire.
Types of Opal
Fine opals shine and sparkle in a continually changing play of colours called Opalising. Depending on the rock and location they have names like Harlequin, Peacock, Mexican, and Fire Opal. Most opal has this play of colours except Common Opal, a name give to all others, like Pink Opal.
As demand outstrips supply, fine opalizing opal is very very expensive, so is sold in individual beads for hundreds of US dollars each. Therefore, the type of opal common in necklaces is non-opalizing opal – usually pink opal from Peru (more below).
Opals fantasy-like play of colour is caused by small spheres of silica creating interference and refraction manifestations. The spheres, which are arranged in compact structures, dissect light through the gemstone, turning it into the rainbow effect, always new and different.
Peruvian Opal
Peruvian Opal comes in faint pink, light blue and light mint-green tones. From the Andes Mountains near San Patricio, Peru, just like the name implies.
Although native South Americans have been using the stone for more than a thousand years, it only became widely available commercially within the last decade or so. It is usually translucent to opaque with no play of colour and often has lots of black and tan dendrites.
Most Peruvian Opal beads are semi-opaque to opaque. Peruvian opals metaphysical properties are similar to other opals. Helping to intensify your traits and characteristics and deepening your personal understanding. Peruvian Opal in particular is used to activate the heart charka and to assist you during spiritual journeys.
How to Value Opal
The most important criterion for determining the price of fine opal is the play of colour, the colours themselves and their pattern. If red appears when looking through the stone, all the other colours will also.
Value also depends on body colour, transparency, and original location. Body colour can be black, dark or light, or coloured. Black Opal or a dark grey body has the most brilliant play of colour. Black Opal from Lightning Ridge or Mexican Fire Opal is the best.
Crystal opal, is the next best, and should be more transparent with a deep play of colour. White or milky opals show more diffuse colour and are the cheapest.
To best bring out the play of colour in a fine opal, the stones are cut and polished to round or oval cabochons, or any other softly domed shape. Only the best qualities of Fire Opal are suited to faceting. The opal cutter removes any impurities using a diamond cutting wheel, before working out the rough basic shape, fine cutting, and finishing with sandpaper and polishing with a wet leather wheel.
How does Opal Effect You?
Opal is thought to solve depression and to help its wearer find true love. Opals are supposed to enhance the positive characteristics for people born under the sign of Cancer. With Black Opal recommended to Scorpios and Boulder Opal for Aries.
The opalizing effect reflects changing emotions and moods of people. People prefer different opals for different moods. Opals are like human emotions: each type creates different feelings.
Looking after Opal
Due to 2 to 6% water, opals easily become brittle and if stored too dry or exposed to heat over a longer period of time, they will show fissures and the play of colour will fade. Therefore, Opal jewellery should be worn as often as possible, for then the gemstone will receive the needed humidity from the air and from the skin of its wearer. In earlier days opals sensitive surface was oiled, but today they are sealed with clear resin.
To buy our Peruvian Opal Nugget Beads click MrBead.co.uk or MrBead.com
Rest of bead fairs and full 2018 Bead Fair List
Key code FREEPOST anytime on UK orders over £30 for free shipping at MrBead.co.uk.
See our beads at MrBead.co.uk or MrBead.com
April 2018 is the 13th full year of the MrBead newsletters, and I thank you all for such enthusiastic comments and appreciation. To see the past newsletters click here.
To see all the original old newsletters click here.
To sign-up for the free newsletters click http://www.mrbead.com/beadnewsletter.htm.
See all our newley listed beads at MrBead.co.uk or MrBead.com.
To see all What's New in our US store click MrBead.com or UK MrBead.co.uk
To go to the US MrBead store click MrBead.com.
Or our UK shop at MrBead.co.uk
To see all old newsletters click here
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