Before Making a Purchase of Alloy Rhinestone Beads

Beads have been used in creating jewelry and as a form of adornment since thousands of years ago and have remained popular up to the present time. The beads then were traditionally crafted using natural materials; some beads of today are made with the inclusion of synthetic materials.  This makes them available to a wider number of jewelry crafts men.  Alloy rhinestone beads are among the more popular types of synthetic beads.  You can use them to create a piece or decorate clothing, and your project will have a touch of zest.

Before you make a purchase of alloy rhinestone beads, it is important that you have basic knowledge about this type of beads. You can easily locate your needed rhinestone beads if you have an understanding of how beads are offered for sale in the market.  You need to be rightly informed about the bead shapes and sizes that play great roles in the final look of the project.  The shapes and sizes of beads also impact how they should be applied to the design.

Alloy rhinestone beads are designed in different shapes to allow you to create distinct-looking projects.  While the beads shapes can be limited only by your own imagination, there are a number of bead shapes that can be found easily available.  These shapes include diamond-shaped, round, bi-cone, flat round, cylindrical, teardrops, and so on.

On the grading aspect, alloy rhinestone beads are graded according to quality, in much the same way as precious and semi-precious beads get graded. These beads are given the AAA grades for the highest quality and a D grade for the poorest quality. The quality is based on clarity and opacity.  Therefore, the AAA rhinestone beads should not have imperfections such as inclusions that affect the color hues, scratches, bubbles or fractures on the inside and outside of the beads.

Alloy rhinestone beads are also manufactured to be used for certain applications. When these beads are categorized according to their intended use, it becomes easy to locate your needed beads when you start shopping for them. For example, for scrap booking projects, the rhinestone beads are flat with backs that can use adhesives; for crafting jewelry, these beads have holes drilled on them that match the size of wire and findings you use. For dressmaking purposes, rhinestone beads are made to suit the fabric and thread.

The sizes of alloy rhinestone beads may range from the smallest to the largest, and you can have plenty of choices in size in designing your project. When you are buying these beads online, make sure that you carefully read the product description and note carefully the sizes and colors of the beads that you will order.  Upon receipt of the rhinestone beads, inspect them immediately, and look at the label on each packaging, as the actual size and color of the beads are labeled there by the manufacturer.

The aforementioned guides can hopefully make your shopping for alloy rhinestone beads much easier and convenient. You might get overwhelmed at first, but as you become familiar with the sizes, shapes, grades and application of rhinestone beads, these things will be second nature to you.