Matte beads are pretty common in the bead world right now, and with good reason. They look great with basically any material and add a special little something to any design style. They've also transformed the way we see options for designing men's jewelry. Instead of sticking to sometimes drab stone colors, everyone is loving the subtle but intense hues that can come from matte finishes.
It is often assumed that matte stones go through less treatment than polished stones. While this is true of rough nuggets and other beads that retain the shape and texture of the rough from which they're cut, the opposite is true matte beads. The process to matte finish a bead is somewhat counter-intuitive, as it requires more steps than the traditional polished stone.
It takes a certain kind of lapidary skill to understand the requirements to create matte finishes. The matte bead actually begins as a polished bead - it's cut, drilled and polished. Then, it goes back into the tumbler with a fine grit powder, water, additional tiny stones and tumbled to various degrees of a matte finish. Each stone type requires a different amount of time in the tumbler, depending on the material's hardness and characteristics. Harder materials take longer (as long as two hours), and may require multiple tumbles with different compounds to get the finish just right.
I have been enjoying your articles that have expanded my gemstone knowledge. I am particularly happy with the collector stones. I wanted to leave a note of something I do when using matte finished stones in a piece of jewelry. I like to add a few 4mm faceted stones as spacers to lend a bit of sparkle.
February 21, 2023 at 09:32am
Liz Godby
Appreciate your articles about the stones I buy. They are interesting and like the article about “matte” stones I thought it would have been easier to reach that finish than non matte stones. Thanks
October 12, 2021 at 14:10pm
Martha Regula
Beautiful necklace. I love seeing examples of work from various artists incorporating different stones. It sparks my own creativity!
October 12, 2021 at 14:10pm
Jane McLean
I have been using your stones for some time. I love the quality, especially I appreciate the well drilled holes. My threads or elastic do not get cut. I “drool” over many of you postings. The prism stones are exciting!
October 12, 2021 at 14:10pm
Karen Feder
Very interesting and well written!! Thanks for the
Interesting info!!
