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Delicas Beads, Frequently Erroneously Referred To As Seed Beads, Are Cylindrically Shaped Glass Beads Made By World Famous Miyuki.
Delicas are a specific bead made by world celebrated Miyuki, Japan's oldest seed bead manufacturer. They are cylindrical in shape with a large hole that provides room for several passes of thread through each bead and can be had in a vast array of colors and finishes.
Size 11 is the most popular size of the Delica beads with 944 varieties of colors, finishes and treatments in the round cylinders plus approximately 55 more in the hex cuts, which are hexagon shaped cylinders. The diverse variations are produced by specific glass treatments. There is basic transparent glass, basic opaque glass, and etched glass for a matte or semi-matte effect. Then there are the many different colored glasses.
Also there is a variety of finishes or treatments. "Treatment" refers to something that is done on the surface of the glass and can be on the top, at times within the hole and sometimes one finish on the top and an alternate finish in the hole. Treatments can include a clear "rainbow" or "aurora borealis" finish, a "pearl" finish, colored dyes, as well as many types of metal coatings including precious metals. Some Delica beads have more than one treatment applied to them in order to result in the desired effect.
Note that there are some durability concerns with a number of the finishes like the dyed or galvanized beads. The best suppliers should be able to provide you with the durability data.
Miyuki also makes a size 10 Delica that is a little larger, a size 8 that is much larger than the size 11, and a size 15 that is much smaller. The size 10 and 15 are relatively new and as a result don't come in as as big a variety of colors and finishes as the size 11.
Miyuki's Delica beads are of very high quality and therefore they are more expensive. You should purchase them from a reliable bead supplier that sells the true article. You should know that some suppliers have been known to buy less expensive, lower quality beads from another producer and pass them off as Delicas. Also be very wary if you are tempted to buy at an on-line auction.
If you are buying your beads to bead up a pattern that gives you the Delica number, for example DB-010, you should have no problem because each color has a number. However, if you are selecting your beads by color name you could have a problem, due to the fact that there is not a standard color description for each bead. The reason being that the Japanese description does not translate readily into English and the different importers each have their own interpretation. So it's always best to go by the DB- number.
True Delica beads are a great choice in any Loom, Peyote or Brick project due to the fact that they are so uniform. They make any pattern line up perfectly and give a clean, crisp finish to your beadwork. There are fewer culls when you are working and therefore they are more cost effective than their price might indicate. And the color and finish selection is fantastic!
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