Bead Dictionary Letter G
Introduction
In the late 1990s, Penny Diamanti, Joyce Diamanti and Robert K. Liu started working on a Bead Dictionary. Around 2009, after much work by the Diamantis, the Bead Dictionary was posted on the Beadazzled website. Through the years, additions were made by Beadazzled. In the summer of 2018, when the Washington DC Beadazzled store and its website closed, the Bead Dictionary was offered to Ornament. This is a unique resource, especially rich for information on beads of ethnographic and ancient origins. As Ornament has only a staff of three, we are slowly reposting it on our website, updating or expanding some of the entries and are adding search features, links and references as time permits. The Bead Dictionary covers primarily beads and other perforated ornaments, but also tools and materials used by those who make jewelry utilizing beads. Photographs from the Ornament archives are being added, as well as new images taken expressly for the Bead Dictionary and others are being brought up to current standards, as many of these images are almost 30 years old. Original photography was by Robert K. Liu, while Cas Webber did additional photos for Beadazzled, noted in the captions as RKL or CW, after first captions.
This Dictionary of Beads is a labor of love and a work in progress. We welcome your comments and suggestions through the Contact link. To navigate, select from the visual index above to jump to the letter you want in the Dictionary, but give the page a little time to load first. To get back to the top and select another letter use the arrow button. We are continuously adding to the Dictionary, so check back often.
To search for keywords in Dictionary headings, use your browser's search function; for example in Internet Explorer use Control+F and in Apple Command+F, then type in your keyword. We hope you enjoy this (not-so-tiny) treasure, and learn more about the vast world of Beads.
Gao Box
Nepalese silver and coral gao box pendant. Robert K. Liu
Information to come...
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Garnet
Indian garnet beads. Cas Webber
Garnet comprises several transparent to translucent silicate minerals with similar compositions but varying colors ranging from green to violet. Usually, however, the name garnet refers only to the red varieties, from a fiery orange to a deep rich wine. Among the hardest of the gemstones commonly used for beads, garnet is also used industrially in watch gears, abrasives, and scientific instruments. Sri Lanka, India, and Afghanistan; Austria and Czechoslovakia; Zambia and Tanzania; the US and Brazil produce most of the garnets on the world market today.
Celebrated for its curative powers, garnet has been used to reduce fever, purge body toxins, encourage blood to clot in wounds, counteract poison, cure nightmares, treat depression, and stimulate sexuality. In addition, garnets ensure success, love, and devotion. Garnet’s deep, vibrant color is seen as a symbol of fire, faith, truth, and fidelity.
More information to come...
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Gauge
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See: Millimeter Gauge Ring Gauge
Genya
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See: Imitation Leather
German Silver
Information to come...
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Ghanaian Gold
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See: Ashanti Gold
Glass—Chinese
Blue Chinese glass wound bead often referred to as Peking glass. Robert K. Liu
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See: Chinese Glass Beads
Gold
Indonesian high karat gold beads. Robert K. Liu
Information to come...
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See Also: High Karat Gold Gold-Filled Ashanti Gold
Gold Glass
Gold glass beads. Robert K. Liu
Ancient Southeast Asian gold glass beads. Robert K. Liu
Information to come...
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Gold-Filled
Various sizes and shapes of gold-filled beads. Cas Webber
Gold-filled and rolled gold refer to a process of bonding or fusing a layer of karat gold to a base metal—typically copper—and then drawing or rolling the combination into thinner wire or sheet. As long as they are well manufactured—the seams are well sealed, etc.—gold-filled articles have a very durable finish and provide a high quality, low cost alternative to solid karat gold. Gold-filled beads are described with two numbers that specify the amount of gold they contain: the karat fineness of the gold layer and the percentage of the total weight that is karat gold. A typical balance is to bond 14k gold as 20% of the total weight and this is written as “14/20 gold-filled.” If a gold-filled bead of this quality were melted down it would be assayed as 11.66% pure gold—the 58.33% of the karat gold as 50% of the entire unit.
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See Also: Vermeil Plated
Goldstone
Various shapes of goldstone beads. Robert K. Liu
Also called aventurine glass, goldstone is neither gold nor stone, a misconception compounded by the fact that goldstone is usually sold by gem bead dealers in the standard 16-inch strands of 4-, 6-, and 8mm round beads. The original name—aventurine glass—comes from the Italian “a ventura” meaning “by chance” because it was supposedly discovered by accident in Venice. It is made by mixing particles of copper or other metals in translucent glass with the result that the glass glitters. The most common color of goldstone is coppery, but dark blue- and dark green versions also exist.
When Indian glass beadmakers began extensively copying Venetian designs in the 1980s, they also began producing goldstone to create the elaborate decorations on these lampworked beads. Then they began making goldstone beads in the usual Indian gems shapes—beans, tubes, small coins, and somewhat irregularly sized rounds—stringing them on 16" strands and selling them alongside genuine gemstone beads.
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Venetian glass bead with goldstone decoration. Robert K. Liu
Gooseberry Beads
Assorted antique glass gooseberry beads. Robert K. Liu
Information to come...
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Granite Beads
Granite beads from northwest Africa. Robert K. Liu
Information to come...
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Granulation
Granulated silver beads from Bali, Indonesia. Robert K. Liu
Silver and vermeil beads from Bali, Indonesia. Robert K. Liu
Information to come...
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See Also: Bali Beads
Greek Beads
Various shapes of contemporary Greek clay beads. Robert K. Liu
Information to come...
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See Also: Donkey Beads—Iranian and Egyptian Faience
Green Hearts
Various green heart beads from the African trade. Robert K. Liu
Information to come...
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Greenstone Beads
Pre-Columbian greenstone/cultural jade beads, mostly of metadiorite. Robert K. Liu
Information to come...
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See Also: Jade—Pre-Columbian Greenstone or Cultural Jade
Guatemalan Silver
Collection of small Guatemalan coin silver beads in traditional designs. Robert K. Liu
Information to come...
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Guru Beads
Sandalwood mala or prayer strand, showing guru bead with yellow silk tassel. Cas Webber
The three-holed bead at the center of a mala or prayer strand. A tassel usually connects through the third perforation. When counting mantra repetitions, practitioners do not cross the guru bead, instead they reverse course, working their way back through the strand in the opposite direction.
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See Also: Mala Three Hole Beads