ArtFire

West German pressed coral striped glass beads in an oval shape and with a wonderful bumpy texture. No two beads are exactly alike as you can see in the photos
I've never seen beads like this since I first found them so many years ago and since I don't have many left in my studio, I decided to list them now.

I combined these two beads in a number of earrings designs I did in the 1980's and the effect was striking!
The way that this type of bead was made ( pressed glass ) is fascinating! The glass that was going to be used was first heated on a mandrel (rod) in much the same way that lamp work beads are made today.
A 'press' which almost resembled tongs used to cook with, was then wrapped around the molten glass to form the desired shape. Many times, VERY detailed impressions were on the ends of these tongs that were used in these vintage West German ' pressed' glass beads so that the final bead looked almost as if it were 'etched' or 'carved'.

You certainly will never find beads like this at your local bead shop!
Price is for 2 of these 12mm x 7mm beads which we 100% guarantee to be vintage West German glass from the 1950's. They're in excellent condition considering they are over 40 years old.

I sold many such unique and one of a kind glass beads through the Smithsonian Institution's museum shop and mail order catalog during the 1980's and they were also featured in trunk shows at Bloomingdales and Saks Fifth Avenue during this same time period.

You can read more about my career as a jewelry designer in my profile

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