Making An Angel In The Glass Bead

Lead crystal beads are machine cut and polished. Their high lead content makes them sparkle more than other glass, but also makes them inherently fragile.
Other methods for making glass beads
Lead glass (for neon signs) and, especially borosilicate is available in tubing, making true blown beads possible. (Soda-lime glass can be blown at the end of a metal tube, or, more commonly wound on the mandrel to make a hollow bead, but the former is unusual and the latter not a true mouth-blown technique.) In addition, beads can be fused from sheet glass or using ground glass.