The Glass Raspberry beads you see here have a translucent quality with a soft surface sheen, and each of their cells has a slight vertical indentation. These beads are hand-formed one cell at a time in the flame of a torch from colored glass. As a result the color will not rub, flake or chip off and no two raspberries are exactly alike.
Like real raspberries, these beads are essentially hollow. However, I have filled in the space at the lowest levels to reinforce the base and add weight to the bottom of the berry, helping it to hang straighter. The beadhole extends from the bottom center of the berry up through the open top. This is the ideal orientation for hanging on a headpin.
The black glass cube in the picture above is 1cm (10mm) per side and is provided as a reference. The standard size for BBRR-VM, a "life-sized" raspberry bead, is about 16mm tall. This is the size of the two largest raspberries shown at the top right of the picture above. However, on request I can make them slightly smaller (about 14mm high). This is the size of the two medium raspberries shown on the lower left side of the picture. This medium size is useful for making jewelry with graduated sizes of glass raspberries. Since it takes the same amount of time to make the raspberries in either 14mm or 16mm size, both are the same price.
The smallest raspberry beads (BBRR-VS) are shown at the bottom right corner of the photo above. They are about 12mm in height and are the best size for earrings or bracelets. Since they take less time to make than the larger raspberries, they are slightly lower in price. If you want to use them for bracelets please specify when you order. In that case I'll make sure they are solid all the way through the centers to give them extra strength.
