You can now directly match colors of modern Japanese beads with
100 year old Italian beads just from the stock numbers! ...and you can do
the same if you need to match seed beads with any of our Pressed Glass or
Lampworked beads.
Thread color numbers are also matched to bead
color numbers so you can modulate your thread colors for special effects.
See the thread section for a complete discussion on how to do this.
2·11·541·10 is a typical BEADCATS Seed Bead stock#.
| digit 1 |
digits 2 & 3 |
digits 4 & 5 & 6 |
digit 7 |
digit 8 |
|||||
| 2· | 1 1· | 5 4 1· | 1 | 0 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of Bead | Size of Bead | Color | Glass Type | Surface Finish | |||||
| . | . | . | . | 0=None
................ 5=Semi-Gloss 1=Irid .................... 6=Matte-Irid 2=Luster ............... 7=Matte-Metallic 3=Matte ................ 8=Irid-Metallic 4=Metallic/Galv ... 9=Painted/Dyed |
|||||
| . | . | . | 0=Trans
.... 5=Mixed 1=Opaque . 6=White-Hearts 2=Greasy ... 7=Silver-Lined 3=Opal ....... 8=Gold-Lined 4=Satin ...... 9=Color-Lined |
||||||
| . | . | 000=Clear,
White, Cream . 500=Green 100=Pink ............................. 600=Blue 200=Red .............................. 700=Purple 300=Orange ........................ 800=Brown 400=Yellow, Amber, Gold . 900=Black, Gray, Silver |
|||||||
| . | Seed
sizes=06 to 24 or Bugle lengths=02 to 99mm |
||||||||
| 0=other
merchandize (needles, trays, etc.) . 5=Round-bugles 1=True-Cut & Two-Cuts ............................... 8=Twisted Bugles 2=Seed, Pony, Whitehearts . .........................7=6-Sided Bugles 3=Three-Cuts .................................................. 6=Hex-Cuts 4=Delicious ..................................................... 9=unused |
|||||||||
Within each color group (100, 200, 300 etc), we've organized
the numbers according to HUE.
For example, Blues go from a
Pure Blue, #603 to a Greenish Turquoise Blue, #693. Next, within each
sub-group, we've arranged the colors from lightest to darkest. For example
#603 is LIGHT powder blue, and #615 is DARK cobalt blue. Blue has many
such partial cycles, as do most of our other HUES.
Generally, if
one color has just a slightly larger number than another, it's a little
darker, and vice-versa. As dye lots change from one glass batch to
another, color numbers will slide up and down the scale. Compare a new
color# with the number on a BEADCATS bead card, or existing
package of BEADCATS beads, and you'll get a pretty good idea how
the latest glass batch colors came out.
The BEADCATS system can be a powerful selection tool.
Suppose
you're making earrings, and want to use only transparent glass
for those wonderful transmitted light effects ... Just look for stock#s
with a 0 in the 7th digit e.g. 2·11·611·00.
For an irid finish, just look for a 1 in the 8th
digit. e.g. 2·11·611·01.
If
you wanted a 12mm smooth bugle bead in the same color,
also using transparent glass, but with an irid finish,
you'd look for the same #, except with a 5 in the 1st digit (for
bugle bead), and a 12 in the 2nd & 3rd digits (for 12mm
length), e.g. 5·12·611·01.
Notice
the same color, #611, or royal blue, is used in both examples: 2·11·611·01
& 5·12·611·01.
Just
remember that dye lots change. If you're designing a product line around a
particular color, make sure you buy enough to make everything you plan to
market. Once a dye lot is gone, you'll be lucky to ever see it again.
| Glossary
Glass & Bead terminology Numbering System diagrams |
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Form Only do this once per session. (Or you'll have multiple copies) |
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