Delica Beads - what makes them special?

Delica beads are precision cut, high quality beads, ideal for off-loom beadwork, such as peyote stitch or herringbone. They were developed by Mr Katsuoka president of Miyuki Beads. He called them delicas so that people would think of them as the delicate or delicious bead.

Mr Katsuoka was inspired by a trip to Europe and the USA, about 25 years ago, where he saw old beaded bags in antique shops made using small steel cut metal beads. A while later he received a call from a woman who asked him if he could make unique beads for weaving, especially ones like those small steel cut beads.

This gave him the opportunity to develop the Myuki Delica bead, specifically for bead weaving. His main considerations, when developing these beads, were that the holes in them should be large enough to take several passes of thread, and that the bead should have a precise uniform shape to give a beautiful finish when using them in beadwork. It took over a year of trial and error before he finally developed a technique to create delica beads

Although Delicas come under the heading of seed beads they are more of a tube than a round bead. This ensures that they fit together neatly, like small tiles, in a piece of beadwork. Although they are more expensive than some seed beads, their uniform shape and precise cut means that fewer beads have to be culled because they are the wrong shape or the hole is too small. They also come in a huge range of colours and finishes. I love working with them because of the crisp definition they give to beadwork projects.