Bead Dictionary

AB - Aurora Borealis - A very cool effect/coating for beads. A swirling metallic effect reminiscent of oil on the road after the rain. Can be applied to any color of bead but almost doubles the cost, as the beads have to be manufactured that color and you have to start with white or clear plastic for the base beads.

ABACUS - A slightly squished round bead, very shiny and a great throwing weight. It reminds you of the old abacuses that were a part of every child’s elementary math classes.

CUSTOM BEADS - Anything you pay to have made just for you. At Treasure Cove Beads we can make almost any thing you need.
This can be custom colors (we can come close to matching most Pantone colors). Check out our “Gator” Orange Round Beads.
It can also be Custom Shapes, for this the manufacturer makes new MOT molds for making the strings of beads. Our Gold and Silver Coin Beads are great examples of this.
Another type is either Hand Strung or MOT with custom molded and hand painted medallions. These are great for Festivals, Events and Company/Organizations to either sell (as a Fundraiser) or hand out.

DOUBLOONS - Commemorative coins struck for individual krewes, clubs or companies. They are designed with a crest or emblem on one side and a parade and/or a theme on the other. Some imprint mottoes. The Krewe of Rex in New Orleans tossed the first parade doubloons in 1960. Now usually made of aluminum, some have been minted of bronze, sterling and real gold, given as call-out favors during balls. Rex alone has minted over eighteen million doubloons since 1960, and now tosses out about 600,000 on Mardi Gras day. These can be custom made for your event or group.

GLOBE - A faceted round bead. It seems to sparkle a bit more that the others, think of a “disco ball”. Some companies call these beads Disco.

GROSS - One dozen dozen, do the math….144. If a case of beads has 5 gross that’s 720 individual necklaces.

HAND STRUNG - The most expensive type of necklace. As the name suggests these are strung by hand during the manufacturing process. These are usually made for specific events or subjects. Sometimes called Specialty Beads, they usually have a medallion hanging from them. They also usually have a theme: St. Patrick’s Day, Valentines, sports or sports teams. Sometimes they have additional themed items strung in them that are consistent with the theme such as a Pirate medallion with small rum bottle beads strung throughout. These beads are a lot of fun and everyone should have a few that express their own personality.

KREWE - The generic term for all Carnival organizations in New Orleans, first used by the Mistick Krewe of Comus which coined the word in 1857 to give its club's name an Old English flavor. It is now the term used for most clubs that participate in or sponsor parades or special events. Most of these groups are fun and charity driven and do a lot of good in their respective communities.

MARDI GRAS - French for Fat Tuesday, the single-day culmination of the Carnival season. Most of the celebrating takes place prior to or on this day. The following day is Ash Wednesday and is the beginning of Lent.

METALLIC -This is the standard finish on most beads. Bright and shiny it reflects all of the light and excitement of the moment. All the colors of the rainbow are available and can be custom ordered by “Pantone” color if desired. Standard colors include: purple, green, gold, red, blue, silver, hot pink, turquoise, and orange.

MOT - Quite simply “molded on thread”. These are the type of beads most often used for parades as throws, and parties as party favors. These are the least expensive and most fun because you can throw or give away hundreds of them without putting too big a dent in your budget. They come in a huge variety of shapes, sizes and color finishes. For the most part the size and color finish on the bead determines the cost. It is almost always sold by the case, with a case containing between 5 dozen and 60 dozen.

PEARL - The “pearl” finish on beads is just what it sounds like, but mother nature never used quite this vibrant a color palette. We can get pearls in all colors. White is the most popular but hot pink is a close second. Pearl finished beads are fun and beautiful but it almost doubles the cost, as the beads have to be manufactured in that color and you have to start with white or clear plastic for the base beads.

PGG - Purple, Green and Gold. The Colors of Mardi Gras. These colors have very special meaning at Mardi Gras Celebrations around the world and are used almost exclusively in Mardi Gras Parades. Purple represents Justice; Green represents Faith; Gold represents Power. You will mostly get Beads and other Throws in these colors at any Mardi Gras parade. For everything else….the sky is the limit.

SWIRLS - Another name for Twist beads.

THROWS - Inexpensive trinkets tossed from floats by costumed and masked krewe members; among the more popular items are krewe-emblemed aluminum doubloons, plastic cups and plastic medallion necklaces.

TWIST - An elongated bead with a twist in it…….very sparkly. Comes in regular size and jumbo.