Sizes of Seed Beads and Bugle Beads

Seed beads and bugle beads are widely used in jewelry making today. They are small, lightweight but colorful and beautiful, which are the reasons why so many jewelry makers would like to add them in their jewelry designs. While, to some beginners of jewelry making, they may not clear about the sizes of seed beads and bugle beads. The sizes of seed beads don’t mean the same as other jewelry beads.

Seed Beads

You will find that the sizes of seed beads are described like 12/0, 11/0, 8/0 and etc. What the mean of those numbers? I think this is the question of many beginners. About seed beads, the bigger the number, the smaller the seed beads. Of course, some people label seed beads like 12°. Both 12/0 and 12° mean the same thing: this is a size 12. Size 0 is the original size of seed beads. As the technology of beadmaking got better, the beads got smaller. Some people may ask are all seed bead sizes the same? The answer is No. Each seed beads company has their won sizing system, so a size 12 from company A will be close, but not exactly the same size as a bead from company B. If your pattern calls for a specific size bead, get all the beads from the same manufacturer / supplier to get the most consistent result.

8/0 Glass Seed Beads, Trans.Colours Rainbow

Bugle Beads

Bugle beads are a kind of beads belong to seed beads, but not in the same shape. Bugle beads are produced in tube shape, but with different effects, for instant, be smooth and round, smooth and squared, squared and twisted and etc. Even though bugle beads are belong to seed beads, but the numbers of their sizes are not the same. People usually use2mmor 3/32”,4mmor 3/16”,7mmor 1/4”,25mmor 15/16”and etc to describe the sizes of bugle beads. As the same as seed beads, the size of bugle beads may be a little different from different company.

Glass Bugle Beads, AB Color

As seed beads and bugle beads are used commonly in jewelry making, and are available in different sizes and countries. So knowing the sizes of those beads and the difference between them to other jewelry beads is very important to make sure you can choose the correct beads for your jewelry designs. And purchasing them from online wholesale stores such as PandaHall.com will be a good idea if you would like to get wide range of selection and get low prices. And I would suggest you to purchase those beads from the same company or supplier to make sure their sizes are the same.