Choose Your Beads
At Pretty Things, I believe that your jewellery should be designed by you. I have shown you the ideas and styles that we are able to provide - now its up to you to add the final, and most important aspect. Colour.
If you have selected the CUSTOM option when ordering your item, this page is to help you put together your finished item, by giving you hints and tips based on our experience.
The pictures down the side of this page are examples of colour combinations that I have found to be particularly effective and popular. I have given them descriptive names to help you make your selection.
Pretty Things Updates
Colour Information
When ordering we need the following information from you:
Item
Size (where indicated)
Metal Colour
Cord Colour (where indicated)
Bead Colour(s)
Some items are available in limited colours, and these are indicated on that item's page.
Where the words SILVER, GOLD and GUNMETAL appear, they refer to the COLOUR of the metal part of the item and not what they are actually made of. The majority of our findings are low nickel alloys, plated with low nickel plates.
Cotton Cord is available in the following colours:Pale Pink, Pink, Pale Blue, Light Turquoise, Summer Green, Yellow, Natural, Brown, Black
HINTS AND TIPS
Adding 'Crystal' to a colour selection will help to break up the intensity of strong colours, making the mixture seem paler and fresher.
When mixing colours, we have found that colours that are closely related (e.g., purples, blues and greens) or are direct contrasts (e.g., turquoise and gold) work the best.
Asking for an item to be all one colour is allowed, but can sometimes be difficult. We have thousands of beads in all colours of the rainbow, but that does not mean that any one of them is the same colour as the next. It is often better to order one colour with 'a hint of' another. E.g., pink with a hint of lilac. This gives us more choice over the beads we can use (not all pinks want to be seen in the same place!) and also has the effect of making your primary colour stand out.
Where gold beads are being used, we always use gold metal. Similarly, where silver and crystal are beads used we always use silver metal. That is just our preference - if you want to be different, go ahead! Just make sure you let us know.
Brown beads are hard to come by, unless they are polished woods. If you want a brown effect, please bear this in mind.
We use semi-precious chippings in our tiaras, belonging to the colour groups that have been ordered. Semi-precious stones, just like glass, can vary slightly or dramatically in their appearance, so please do not expect every bead to be identical.
We have tried to cover all of the major points you will think about when designing your items, but you are bound to think of something we have left out. Please contact us for any further advice on choosing your colours.