We get asked a lot about Czech glass seed beads and their sizes and weights. Unlike new seed beads and Japanese seed beads, Czech vintage seed beads are very difficult to put into neat categories. They come loose, in single hanks and in master hanks. The variety of bead shapes and sizes is endless and as many different types of glass were used, the weight per gramme or Oz can vary wildly, even for the same size of bead.

When we list loose seed beads, we will count by hand the number of beads in 2 grammes and divide by 2 to give a rough approximation per gramme. This can be painful when some micro beads have 125 beads per gramme and are so tiny to pick up!  When we list hanks, we will count the number of beads in a linear inch. Apart from some rondelle beads, Czech seed beads will never conform to a true "aught" size.

Below is a chart that very roughly converts seed bead (aught) sizes to mm, inches, and feet. All numbers are rounded and approximate. It is always a good idea to add 10% to what you will probably need.

MM   Inches        Beads          Beads    Seed Bead   

                          Per Foot      Per Inch       Sizes                                                    

1.0       0.04          305               25             20/0             

1.1       0.04          277               23             18/0             

1.2       0.05          254               21             17/0              

1.4       0.05          218               18             16/0            

1.5       0.06          203               17             15/0         

1.6       0.06          191               16             14/0               

1.7       0.07          179               15             13/0        

1.9       0.08          160               13             12/0             

2.1       0.08          145               12             11/0              

2.3       0.09          133               11             10/0              

2.7       0.11          113                9               9/0               

3.1       0.12           98                 8               8/0             

3.4       0.13           90                 8               7/0              

4.0       0.16           76                 6               6/0            

Vintage Czech 1930's sample card black rocailles seed glass beads

Example page of a Vintage Czech seed bead sample catalogue

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