If I had to choose one cut of gemstone bead I love above any other, it would be the beautiful briolette.
If I am completely honest, they can be maddening to work with. As they are often small and delicate, they can break easily, particularly if one tries to push it beyond its boundaries, for instance by using silver wire that is too thick.
We have our briolettes laid out in pretty spaced out strands. The result is often confusing for the uninitiated-- they almost look like finished items of jewellery, ending with tassles. And yet, they aren't as there is no obvious means of fastening them in any way, such as you would see with a bracelet.
The lay out is there to help you envisage how to use them. By spacing them out, with other beads in between very quickly and easily one can create an exceptional piece of jewellery, using beautiful materials, but often with only the simplest of jewellery making techniques. Simple bead stringing can often give the best result.
Our favourite combination is briolettes combined with small (5mm and under) faceted roundels in coordinating coloured stones, with silver beads and/or Czech glass bicones. The results are often exquisite.
I am often asked what sort of wire to use with briolettes, and the answer is fairly simple. The thickest wire that briolette can take. Because they are hand drilled, the holes can vary in size. Along a strand each bead may have a slightly different hole size. I keep stock of .4mm, .5mm and .6mm sterling silver wire to wrap gems with, and the rule of thumb is the smaller the bead, the thinner the wire. I also use both soft and half hard wire. Soft wire is easier to work with, and as you work it, it hardens. Some of it is trial and error. Sometimes you will break the top off a briolette, which is frustrating and maddening! But over time and with experience you work out what you are likely to be able to get away with with each different briolette.
If it is small and delicate, I might decide simply to string them, and not to wire wrap them, to avoid the possibility of breaking them at the drilled top.
Briolettes, at first glance, can seem expensive. Due to their quality, and the time put in to cutting the facets and shapes, they tend to be more costly than other gemstones. When you see them you can immediately tell why. Yet the fact is that they can offer you the greatest return when making jewellery to sell. A strand of beads will have enough beads for one or two necklaces and two matching pairs of earrings. For instance, if the strand has 14 briolettes on it, 5 briolettes can be used as the centrepiece of two necklaces and 4 briolettes can be used for two matching pairs of earrings. By far the biggest mark up you will get on your jewellery creations is with earrings. Where you might make 2 or 3 times your outlay on a necklace, you can make 5 times on a pair of earrings. In some situations they even subsidise the necklace!
There is a reason why we have so many types of briolettes, and never tire of them. They are unique, not mass produced, with unbeatable shine and sparkle. They are inspiring. Their appeal is timeless.
