Do I have to be a PayPal member to make a purchase from your website?
No. All you need is a credit card. While we do use the PayPal shopping cart, you're not required to sign up for an account.

What currency are your prices in?
All of our prices are in USD.

How do you make your beads?
Our beads are made by wrapping molten glass around a steel rod in the flame of a torch. It is the same technique that has been used by bead makers for thousands of years. Check our history of lampwork page for more details.

Do you make all your beads yourself?
Absolutely. Everything we sell is made in our own workshop in British Columbia, Canada.

What does it mean to "anneal" a bead?
Annealing is heating a piece of glass until its temperature reaches a stress-relief point - a temperature at which the glass is still too hard to deform, but is soft enough for internal stresses to ease. The piece is then allowed to heat-soak until its temperature is even throughout. The piece is then slowly cooled. This relieves the internal stresses, resulting in a piece which should last for many years. Glass which has not been annealed will usually at least crack, and can shatter due to a seemingly minor temperature change or other shock.

How accurate are the colors on your website?
We've taken every measure to ensure the accuracy of the colors on our website. We use a professional digital SLR camera and a white-light, jewelry specific lighting studio. All our equipment has been hardware color calibrated. We cannot guarantee however the accuracy of your computer’s monitor. For optimal results, we suggest calibrating your monitor with a hardware device such as the ColorVision Spyder.

Do you do custom orders?
We do custom work on an individual basis. Email or call with your request. We'll do our best to accommodate your needs.

How accurate are the dimensions you provide for your beads? How do you measure them?
The dimensions provided represent an average bead in the lot. The beads you receive should be +- .5mm of the stated dimensions. The measurements are taken with a digital vernier caliper.