Delicas Beads, Sometimes Mistakenly Referred To As Seed Beads, Are Cylindrically Shaped Glass Beads Made By World Celebrated Miyuki.
Delicas are a specific bead produced by world famous Miyuki, Japan's oldest seed bead producer. They are shaped like a cylinder with a big hole that provides room for multiple passes of thread through each bead and can be purchased in a extensive palette of colors and finishes.
Size 11 is the most in demand size of the Delica beads with 944 selections of colors, finishes and treatments in the round cylinders plus approximately 55 more in the hex cuts, which are hexagon shaped cylinders. The many variations are produced by particular 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 are many different finishes or treatments. "Treatment" means something that is applied onto the surface of the glass and can be on the top, sometimes within the hole and sometimes one finish on the top and a different finish in the hole. Treatments may be made up of a clear "rainbow" or "aurora borealis" finish, a "pearl" finish, colored dyes, as well as many types of metal coatings such as precious metals. Some Delica beads have more than one treatment applied to them in order to result in the desired effect.
Be aware that there may be durability issues with a number of the finishes such as the dyed or galvanized beads. The best retailers will be able to supply you with the durability data.
Miyuki also produces a size 10 Delica that is a little larger, a size 8 that is much bigger than the size 11, and a size 15 that is a lot 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.
The quality of Miyuki's Delica beads is very high and as a result they cost more. You should acquire them from a reliable bead shop that sells the genuine article. You should know that some retailers have been known to purchase cheaper, lower quality beads from another producer and pawn 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 provides you with the Delica number, such as DB-010, you should have no problem due to the fact that each color has a number. But if you are selecting your beads by color name you likely will have a problem, as 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.
Genuine Delica beads are a superb choice in any Loom, Peyote or Brick project because they are so uniform. They make any pattern line up perfectly and give a clean, crisp finish to your project. 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!