[Source] Diamond beads

Jewelry Discussion
1

I am looking for a good and reasonable source for diamond beads and
briolets to make a necklace.

2

There is a gem dealer in the San Francisco Jewelry Mart that has both
Diamond beads and briolettes. I have looked but not purchased from
him, so I do not know if his prices are reasonable. His web site is
www.manakjewels.com. Hope this helps–

Kate
kw@katharinewhittaker.com

3

Hi there Orchid family,

I was just wondering if anyone of you had a good source for diamond
beads?? I am currently working in the bridal area and this is one
request that comes up time and time again.

I would really appreciate your advice as I have never worked with
diamonds before.

Sincerely
Tina
Cork, Ireland

4

Hi Tina,

Try prijems.com The website won’t tell you much but it will give you
contact They do have beautiful diamond beads.

Beth

5

I have purchased diamond beads - white, cognac, and black - from
Oriental Gemco at International Gem Shows and in Tucson.

They do have a Web site, but there is nothing on it - evidently they
have only registered the domain and put the templates in place, but
they are completely content-free.

I did find this listing for them from a recent show guide: ORIENTAL
GEMCO (NY) INC. 56 WEST 45TH STREET 5TH FLOOR NEW YORK NY 10036 USA
Phone: 212-391-5801 Fax: 212-391-5803 E-Mail: sales@orientalgemco.com

I also found a company profile from a Japanese Gem Show: “Oriental
Gemco has its associated offices in New York, Hong Kong, Greece,
Australia, Bangkok, Jaipur and Mumbai. The company carries a huge
inventory & participates in more than 60 Trade shows all around the
Globe” so they may be coming to a trade show near you in Ireland.

Other suppliers that I have bookmarked but not yet used aRe:

Linda

6

Hi Tina,

Probably your best bet for diamond beads is any diamond wholesaler.
If they don’t carry them, they will probably be able to refer you to
someone that does.

One thing to be very careful about with diamond beads is the hole.
I’ve gotten strands from 2 different dealers in the US & the holes in
all of them are quite small. I didn’t check them precisely but
they’re about .010" (.25 mm) in diameter. The other nasty thing about
them is the holes don’t go straight through the bead. If I had to
guess, I’d say the holes are probably made with a laser. They
probably use 2 lasers one from each side & so as not to zap one laser
with the other they drill the holes at an angle.

Based on my experience, I’d say the stones would have to be
individually knotted on each side of the stone tightly. If not
knotted they’d wear through what ever they were strung on quickly.

Dave

7

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your advice, I will certainly check that the holes are
drilled all the way through.

I don’t know of any diamond wholesaler here, what ones do you use?? I
wonder what the export duty will look like “Yikes” !!! Nannyways
thanks for taking the time to help me out.

Best wishes to you!
Tina
Cork, Ireland

8

Linda you are wonderful!!!

Thank you sooooo much!! I had no idea where to begin looking. I
really appreciate your taking the time to help me out. You are very
kind.

Best wishes to you
Tina
Cork, Ireland

9

Hi Dave

The other nasty thing about them is the holes don't go straight
through the bead. If I had to guess, I'd say the holes are probably
made with a laser. They probably use 2 lasers one from each side &
so as not to zap one laser with the other they drill the holes at
an angle. Based on my experience, I'd say the stones would have to
be individually knotted on each side of the stone tightly. If not
knotted they'd wear through what ever they were strung on quickly.

I have known that the holes in beads are not straight through, but I
never knew exactly why. Your explanation seems to be very logical.
Now, I am picturing that the holes (being made on an angle from
opposing sides) would form somewhat of a “v” shape inside the bead
where the 2 holes meet in the middle. Is this correct? If it is, I
would think that a diamond briolette would not be usable at all as it
will always break whatever it is strung on (even if it is wire). What
do you think? I have seen a lot of nice looking necklaces with
diamond briolettes at the center. Are they all going to fall apart?

In the second part of your post, you talk about knotting
individually on each side of the stone. I’m not sure what this means
though. Would knots relieve the pressure on the stringing material
where it meets in the middle of the bead?

Thanks
Kim Starbard

10

Oh yes, Dave Arens speaks sooth!

I have not yet found any silk that will work with diamond beads -
they fail at the point where the needle meets the silk, even with the
built-in needles. The holes just aren’t big enough to allow both to
be pulled through.

I have found that almost invariably the hole sizes can’t accomodate
greater than 30 gauge wire, or 28 gauge on rare occasions, so
wire-wrapping with 30 gauge has been what I end up doing with them,
mostly.

I would love to know about other solutions, too.

Linda

11

Hi Kimberly,

I am picturing that the holes (being made on an angle from opposing
sides) would form somewhat of a "v" shape inside the bead where the
2 holes meet in the middle. Is this correct? If it is, I would
think that a diamond briolette would not be usable at all as it
will always break whatever it is strung on (even if it is wire).
What do you think?

That’s correct, the holes from each side come together at an angle &
form a ‘V’ shape.

I’m not sure how the holes in diamond briolettes are drilled. But
anything other than a straight through hole will produce a ‘wear
point’ on the material used to string the bead.

In the second part of your post, you talk about knotting
individually on each side of the stone. I'm not sure what this
means though.

The reason for knotting on each side of the bead is to eliminate or
reduce to a minimum any movement of the bead on the stringing
material. The finished article would look something like this. Knot,
diamond bead, knot, knot, diamond bead, knot, knot, diamond bead,
knot & so on to the end of the item. Reducing the lateral motion of
the beads eliminates or reduces the abrasive wear of the point in
the center of the bead. However it doesn’t do anything for the shear
forces caused by the point. The only way to reduce those would be to
reduce or eliminate the point.

Dave

12

Hi Orchidians,

I’m hoping that someone can point me in the direction of a reputable
dealer of drilled diamond beads, small carat weight .5>, and SI >
clarity.

Thanks!
Lisa

13

Hello lisa,

Yes I can help you out with sourcing as I do know a company that
largely does diamond beads, Briolletts in whie, yellow and brown in
different clarities.

You can contact me on @Armaity_Kotwal.
An Orchidian

14

I liked the stock I saw from Manak (http://www.manakjewels.com/)
when I was in Tucson. They have briolettes of all shapes, colors, and
weights as well as strung diamond roundelles. They also seemed to
adapt well to my very small business needs by not requiring a
purchase a set dollar amount or number of stones.

R/
Kennedi Milan