Dragon Breath glass?
 

Hello everybody

in the last time I was around on FB sites about native American jewelry. During my researches on Fred Harvey era jewelry I came in contact with jewelry which is set with so called Dragon Breath glass cabouchons. They look kind of purple with some luster and glittering. I learned that these cabouchons came from Bohemia and were not backed with metal. The metal should be included in the glass...The jewelry with this glass is old, pre 1950 or even older. I have none of these jewelry seen in person, only online. Does anybody know more about this kind of glass? Is it available also for beadmaking? Or do we know it under another name? It is not aventurine glass. Thanks in advance for your input!:wave:

With kind regards an a happy new Year:waving:

Never heard of the vintage stuff. The only lampworking glass I know of by that name is a silver glass called Dragon's Breath, and it comes in shard form from www.avenuebeads.com. I heartily recommend trying it out; shards are easy and fun to play with!
I don't think that it comes in rods.

I did a little googling and it looks like it's faux opal. There are a few ways to get the look...or try to. An interesting base glass (or two), a little dichro, and/or silver foil, and/or some silver glass like Double Helix encased with whatever colors you're going for can get close.

It is not available for beadmaking. I know a little bit more about it, and also have some examples. It comes in different colors, but the most used is an orange one. I am not sure how it is made, but I believe there is something sandwiched inside the glass. Probably not actual foil, but maybe something fumed. Either way, it does not hold up to being reheated. I have found no examples of this type of glass being used at the torch. All examples I know are pressed/molded from thick rods. It has been made after the 1950's, but I do not believe it is being produced anymore today.
It is somewhat similar to the faux opal from Czech in it's look, but not in it's technique. Faux opal, as Rebecca stated, can be mimicked fairly easy with some experimenting. In the first image there are two examples side by side. The one with the opalescent white, frit and foil are faux opal. The ones on the right are dragon's breath. The second image shows all dragon breath cabs. It is pretty fascinating stuff.

I love this forum!!! Thanks Floorkasp.

It’s an old Italian technique. Murano was famous for it. Gavilani is also known for it. I also want to make it but can’t find any tutorials! I think it’s considered a secret?