Earth Song Jewelry has always been about highlighting the natural beauty of nature’s creation. I love the process of working with natural stones to create something unique and stunning, taking advantage of the best features of each natural stone.
But - that doesn’t mean that natural stone jewelry is the only kind of jewelry I am interested in making.
If you’ve been watching the New Jewelry collection on my site, or even reading my blog articles each week, you’ll have noticed that I recently started making Fire Polished Czech glass jewelry and accessories in addition to my handmade natural stone jewelry.
There are a lot of reasons I decided to add glass jewelry to Earth Song Jewelry’s collections.
For one thing, Fire Polished Czech glass is an example of the incredible things you can make using simple, natural resources, and a little bit of innovation and human creativity.
While this type of glass isn’t naturally occurring, it’s made from natural silica and Quartz, making glass another example of the incredible range of resources we get from our home planet.
Glass jewelry is also more consistent than natural stone jewelry. Natural stones are always going to have variation in color, pattern, and even availability. That means that, while I work hard to keep my natural stone jewelry very consistent and maintain high quality standards, you’re inevitably going to see different colors and patterns in any given piece.
With the added consistency of glass, you can expect to get jewelry that looks almost identical to the original design.
But, I’m also fascinated by the incredible history and artistry behind Czech fire-polished glass. So, I thought I’d take a few minutes and introduce you to the history of Czech glass and Czech glass beads.
Beads - One Of The Most Important Ways To Make Jewelry
These days there isn’t a ton of reason to think about beads and bead-making unless you happen to be a bead or jewelry artisan. Or maybe a couture fashion designer.
But, beads have an incredibly long history with human beings, and have even been some of the most important products for some regions of the world.
Beads have also been made from a wide variety of materials. Shells, glass, wood, and natural stone have all been used in bead making for more than 100,000 years of human history. Not to mention beads made of precious metals, ceramics, and other less durable materials.
Beads were a critical trade good between the First Nations Peoples of North America and European settlers. They were traded all across the world, and beads from different areas have always been prized by the people who found them.
We have even found Ancient Egyptian-made beads in Norse funerary goods!
It might be easy to dismiss beads today, but, for most of human history, beads were an incredibly important and highly valued way to interact with each other, beautify our spaces, and admire the natural beauty of the world around us.
Bohemia - One of the Glass Making Powerhouses of History
Bohemia, which is now called the Czech Republic, had a lot of natural advantages when it came to making glass.
For one thing, the area was full of naturally occurring silica and Quartz, both of which served as key components for glassmaking.
The region also had another important resource readily available: wood.
Timber from the dense forests in Bohemia could be used not only to provide the heat required for turning Silica and ground Quartz into glass, burning it also created potash. Potash was a critical ingredient for certain kinds of glassmaking, as well as certain finishes.
Because of that lucky combination of resources, and glass’s status as a potentially lucrative trade good, an entire cottage industry in Bohemia became dedicated to making glass and glass beads.
From the 1500’s on, whole families might all be involved in the glass making business, with each family member often specializing in a specific part of the process.
Innovation and Improvement
One of the problems for Bohemia, early in their evolution into a powerful source of glass beads, was that they were not the only area that was known for making beautiful glass.
Having the right combination of natural resources is one thing. Having the skill and knowledge needed to use those resources is something else entirely.
Fortunately, there were other examples available to Bohemia.
Venetian glass, which is at least as well known as Czech-Fire-Polished glass today, inspired many of the tools and techniques Bohemian glass artisans would use to create their art. But, Bohemia retained the knowledge and techniques from their own glass-making history.
Instead of getting rid of old or less popular techniques - the glassmaking industry in Bohemia would merge those skills with the techniques and knowledge of Venetian glassmakers.
The result was glass with unique colors, quality, and designs compared to any of the glass in the rest of the world.
What Makes Czech Fire Polished Glass Different?
If you’ve read any of my blogs talking about the incredible beauty and unique character of natural stone jewelry, it won’t be a surprise that I look for unique and varied qualities in my jewelry materials.
So why did I choose to add Czech Fire-Polished Glass to my jewelry supplies?
Well, for one thing, the beautiful colors and fascinating history of this type of glass make it a lot of fun to work with. Czech Fire-Polished Glass is a wonderful example of what a little innovation and creativity can do.
I also love that this type of glass is slightly variable and unique.
One of the most important parts of making Fire-Polished Glass, which is often machine faceted and uniform before the polishing step, is adding it to a fire or high-temperature kiln. The result is that the glass will partially melt, softening the edges, sometimes changing colors, or even adding reflectivity to the glass that wasn’t there before.
Because there is no way to completely control the effects of the fire-polishing stage, each glass bead will be slightly different.
The Most Popular Glass Beads in the World
By the early 20th century, then Czechoslovakia had become the most popular and powerful exporter of glass beads in the world. Beads from Czechoslovakia were being used in jewelry and fashion all over the world.
There was just one problem coming for the booming bead industry: the Great Depression. As sales fell off because families were pinching pennies and the average consumer couldn’t afford as many luxuries, glass beads were heavily affected.
Then World War 2 broke out, further disrupting international trade, luxury market conditions, and the demand for high fashion and jewelry.
Czechoslovakia went from being the most prominent bead exporter in the world to a country struggling to survive.
Worse, during World War 2, many of Czechoslovakia’s most skilled artisans were forcibly relocated, many of them to Germany, taking their skills and generational knowledge with them.
The heyday of Czechoslovakian bead making was over.
Recovery After The War
Czechoslovakia would eventually start to recover. While under communism, the bead and glassmaking industries were restarted, this time utilizing mechanized factories more than individual artisan makers and families.
Unfortunately, as the country needed the income it hoped to regain from the glass industry, prison labor and other forms of coerced labor were used to try and rebuild.
After Czechoslovakia split and became the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Bohemia, the original home of the Czech bead industry, was firmly on the Czech side of the border.
Glassmaking was revitalized for a second time, using a combination of the mechanized and traditional methods. Large glass bead conglomerates still dominate the industry in Czech, but there is room for individual artisans and smaller companies to make their beads known.
Want to Own Some Czech Fire-Polished Glass of Your Very Own?
Want to own a small piece of history of your own? Czech Fire-Polished Glass might have a long and fascinating history, but it’s best admired not in an article or a history lesson, but in person.
My handmade Czech Fire-Polished Glass jewelry collection features a rainbow of different colors and hues. From necklaces to earrings, and even a beautiful bookmark or two, I am sure there is something to delight everyone in this collection.
Of course, if you’re looking for Earth Song Jewelry’s more traditional Natural Stone Jewelry, you can always shop my jewelry collections by stone.
