Millefiori beads

Did you know that millefiori is Italian for "million flowers"? This name precisely reflects the character of our millefiori glass beads! The technique of producing these beads has been known since the 1st century, and for years it was a well-hidden secret of Italian craftsmen. However, today these methods are known all over the world and although millefiori glass is a slightly less exclusive product, it still pleases us with its beauty!

How millefiori beads are made

The technology of creating millefiori beads is classified as lampwork. The exact production process is quite long and requires not only patience, but also craftsmanship, but in our opinion it is absolutely worth the results! If you have ever seen how handmade candies with patterns inside are made, you already know almost exactly how millefiori glass is made.

The first element is a special cylindrical stick around which subsequent layers of heated glass are placed. Each subsequent layer is appropriately shaped so that the resulting glass rod has the desired shape (the shape of a flower, of course). The next stage is to connect a dozen or so differently colored rods to create multi-flowered glass.

Depending on the desired final shape, the process can be carried out in two ways. The first option is to cut the rods into small pellets, arrange them in a special form and pour hot, transparent glass. The second option is to combine the rods into a larger rod, shape it and cut the glass into pellets of appropriate thickness.

Millefiori beads available from Manzuko

In our store you will find entire meadows enclosed in glass beads. We offer a wealth of colors and shapes of these joyful beads. The shapes of our beads include lozenges, rectangles, cubes and even flower-shaped beads! They all charmed us the first time we opened the box and we hope they will bring you and your customers joy too!

Millefiori beads look great alone, but you can combine them with various jewelry semi-finished products. They match perfectly with other glass beads, as well as pearls, shells, katsuki beads and letters. They are quite lightweight, making them suitable for creating all types of jewelry from earrings to anklets!