Cobalt Blue Annular Glass Ring Trade Beads

Most glass beads produced in Europe from the late 1800s to mid 1900s fall into one of three categories: wound, drawn and molded. Wound beads were manufactured by winding molten glass around a metal rod until it took on the form of the finished bead. Once the glass cooled and hardened, there was no need to perforate it removing the metal rod left a hole through which the bead could be threaded. Using the wound glass method, beads could be manufactured in small workshops without the need for massive and expensive equipment. But each bead had to be created individually, making cheap, large-scale production impossible. Because of this, another technique was developed and perfected in the famous bead-making workshops of Venice and elsewhere in Europe. In the drawn glass method, molten glass was affixed to metal plates and then drawn out by two workers walking in opposite directions. The malleable glass would stretch until it became a long thin cane which could then be cut into small sections and formed into beads.

"Trade Beads" refer to beads primarily produced in Venice, Bohemia, and other European countries from the late 1400s to the early 1900s, traded in Africa and the Americas. The peak of this trade occurred from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, with the Venetians dominating production. J.F. Sick and Co. and Moses Lewin Levin played significant roles as bead brokers/importers. The beads gained renewed popularity in the late 1960s when exported from Africa to the U.S. and Europe. The term "Trade Beads" became widely used, and they were also known as "Love Beads" during the Hippie era. As demand grew, specific names like "Russian Blues" and "Dutch Donuts" emerged, contributing to the beads' collectability. Today, these beads are highly sought after, with some styles becoming rarer as African traders venture deeper into the continent to find them.

Photo is an example. Yours will be similar. You are purchasing one.

This strand is not intended to be a ready-to-wear necklace. Although the strand can be worn "as is," the string holding it together is not durable and may break with use. For this reason, we recommend that you restring the beads before wearing them.