More on "Standard Colours"

Last week, I talked about "standard" colours in Czech-made firepolish and pressed glass. Maybe "classic" would have been a better term - but they were the colours that you find in most lines of glass beads.

These following colours are what I think of as the "2nd string" of colours, they add more colours and expand the colour palette and options but are pretty common and easy to find.

Montana Blue (a dusky, grey blue - named for Montana Sapphires.)
Black Diamond (because "grey" just sounds boring)
Light Sapphire (a lighter blue)


Light Amethyst


Capri (a dark aqua)



Garnet (a very dark red)
Smokey Topaz (a smokey, transparent brown)






Alexandrite (a colour shift bead, blue in fluorescent light and daylight, and lilac or pink in incandescent light.)

Olivine (a darker, slightly smokey yellow green.)


Note the absence of a true pinky-pink and a blue purple. Which is why we also get really excited when we find a source of these! Pink, purple and brown glass is made with gold - which is why they tend to be more expensive! Even more so with this last year's skyrocketing price of gold!