Because glass shrinks as it cools stress can form within the glass causing cracks and breakage, most stress is invisible to the naked eye. It is important to eliminate this stress by annealing the beads in a kiln. The annealing process soaks the bead at a designated temperature to relieve any internal stress, and then slowly cools the bead to prevent any new stress from developing. A bead that is not kiln annealed WILL break. A bead that is kiln annealed with be much less likely to break, but it's still glass and you must take care. You will be happy to know all of my beads are properly kiln annealed.
Mass produced and imported beads, in many circumstances have not been cleaned or properly annealed which makes there strength questionable. While the quality of imported lampwork beads has improved, There are still imperfections that may be significant, They are not made with the care and attention to detail you can expect from artist made beads.
Artist-made beads are beads made by hand in a studio by an individual artist and are not mass-produced. Several of the largest producers of lampwork beads today are importing beads from India or China to the United States and reselling them under a studio name. I would advise buyers to question their sellers by asking if the beads are annealed and if artists or factory workers create them. Unfortunately, many of these mass produced beads are made where working conditions include “low pay, seven-day work weeks, 15-hour working days, mandatory overtime, a poor working environment and often coercive factory regulations.” (chinalaborwatch.org) Workers frequently live in overcrowded dormitories and often earn less than 25 cents per hour. Your purchase supports labor conditions at their worst.
I encourage you to buy artist-made beads, even if they are not mine.
Of course, I would prefer you buy mine. :)
