Home › Crafts › Glass Craft & Beadmaking
Craft family
Glass Craft & Beadmaking
Blown, lampworked, fused, etched and stained glass reach markets as tableware, lighting, beads and architectural panels. Recycled glass has become a category of its own, with its own colour limits and bubble characteristics that buyers should specify rather than discover. This section covers the world's glassmaking centres, the bead traditions that supply the jewellery trade, and the annealing, thermal shock and food-contact questions that separate a decorative glass object from one that can be sold for daily use.
What goes wrong
Handmade glass breaks in transit more than any other craft, and the cost sits in packing rather than product. Insist on individual wrapping and a drop-tested carton, and expect a breakage allowance to be negotiated rather than denied. On the product itself, check annealing: badly annealed glass carries internal stress and can crack weeks later, apparently for no reason. And any glass sold for drinking needs the same lead testing as ceramic glaze.
Where this craft is made
Countries with real depth in this craft, and where inside them it concentrates.
| Italy — Murano The most storied glassmaking island in the world, with heavily imitated branding. | Open → |
| Sweden — Kosta & Orrefors Scandinavian studio glass with a strong design tradition. | Open → |
| Czechia Bohemian cut crystal and a very large pressed and lampworked bead industry. | Open → |
| India Firozabad glass bangles and beads, made at enormous volume. | Open → |
| Ghana — Bolgatanga Recycled powder-glass beadmaking with a distinctive method. | Open → |
| Egypt Hand-blown recycled glass with a long Cairo tradition. | Open → |
| Germany Known especially for its blown glass — the country page carries the full tradition. | Open → |
| Ireland Known especially for its cut crystal — the country page carries the full tradition. | Open → |
| Senegal Known especially for its glass painting — the country page carries the full tradition. | Open → |
| Türkiye Known especially for its glass — the country page carries the full tradition. | Open → |
| United Kingdom Known especially for its glass — the country page carries the full tradition. | Open → |
| United States Known especially for its studio glass — the country page carries the full tradition. | Open → |
Explore this craft worldwide
| Product range and what is available | Explore → |
| Best known products by country | Explore → |
| Design traditions and patterns | Explore → |
| How to judge quality in the finished piece | Explore → |
| Telling handmade from machine-made | Explore → |
| Sizes, forms and typical dimensions | Explore → |
| Colours, finishes and surface options | Explore → |
| Price levels in the market | Explore → |
| Care, cleaning and durability | Explore → |
| Uses, styling and where the product fits | Explore → |
| Buying, minimum orders and lead time | Explore → |
| What buyers should check before ordering | Explore → |
| Geographical indications and craft marks | Explore → |
| Market demand and current trends | Explore → |
Famous names of the craft
Long-established houses of this craft worldwide. Each opens a live answer on that name.
| Venini — Murano · art glass | Explore → |
| Barovier & Toso — Murano · among the oldest glass dynasties | Explore → |
| Seguso — Murano · glass dynasty | Explore → |
| Salviati — Murano · glass house | Explore → |
| NasonMoretti — Murano · glass tableware | Explore → |
| Baccarat — France · crystal | Explore → |
| Lalique — France · glass and crystal | Explore → |
| Daum — Nancy, France · pâte de verre | Explore → |
| Saint-Louis — France · crystal | Explore → |
| Moser — Karlovy Vary, Czechia · crystal | Explore → |
| Preciosa — Czechia · crystal and beads | Explore → |
| Orrefors — Sweden · crystal | Explore → |
| Kosta Boda — Sweden · art glass | Explore → |
| Waterford — Ireland · crystal | Explore → |
| Simon Pearce — USA · hand-blown glass | Explore → |
| Miyuki and Toho — Japan · the two great seed-bead houses | Explore → |
| Klove Studio — Delhi · blown-glass lighting studio | Explore → |
Fix these before asking for a quotation
- The technique, named exactly — the process, not the look.
- The input specification: material, grade and source.
- An agreed variation tolerance for size, colour and weight.
- The finish system, including who applies it.
- The compliance regime of your selling market, identified before sampling.