Jablonec Nad Nisou is the Czech town where glass beads, buttons and cabs have been made for centuries. I am currently writing a book about 'Beads from Jablonec'.
Here are some pictures:
The old, but still working, glass factory that was founded by Josef Riedel in the 1800's. This is where the Czech glass lampworking rods come from. The huge factory complex is now owned by Preciosa, also the makers of many types of crystal beads and seed beads. It sits in Desna, not far from Jablonec.
An example of an old workshop where they used to make glass molded beads and buttons. They are scattered around the area and can be recognized by their chimneys. This one is no longer in use.
This is how pressed glass beads are made. Large rods of glass are heated in a kiln and when soft, pressed into a mold that immediately pushes a hole into them. This used to be done one by one, but now it is a bit (but not that much) quicker. These beads are also the start of many facetted beads.
On to lampworking....
One of the things that I noticed, is that the people who make lampwork beads or figurines have their torch positioned differently than most other lampworkers. Their torch points down or straight, and usually their forearms are flat on the table.
They use the heat of the torch to preheat the rods (this too is a place that gets very cold in the winter) on a cast iron metal rod holder. It seems like it is very well designed, and I managed to find one of these old rod holders to try at home.
For those concerned about safety: this place will be shocking...... I have seen many people (all professionals) working without any eye protection, I have seen a full-on glassblower on the street at a festival with massive oxygen and gas tanks ready for kids to pull over, and many other places that I would not qualify as a safe workplace. I have not seen any didymium glasses, I think. Quite a few did have a clear sheet of glass to protect their eyes and face. This one surprised me the most: at a local festival, people were showing their craft. These kids were crawling all over the table of this lampworker. An nobody minded.....
Walking along the road ina nearby town, I saw a driveway with scattered beads, and a small house with a smoking chimney. A sure cue for me to go and see. Turns out, it was a workshop for firepolishing beads, a one man operation. I thought, that real firepolishing was a thing of the past, and that it was now done in temperature controlled kilns.
This man was continually adding wood and placing racks of glass beads in the fire. He would rotate the racks, so they would start at the top, and move down the shelves. It was a very hot job, and he actually had a piece of cardboard on his nose to protect it from the heat. He spoke no German or English, but proudly showed me the German "Perlen Poesie' magazine in which he was featured.
Finally, two sample cards of local beads, from the 1920's and 1930's.
I hope you enjoyed coming along on my bead trip!