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Some beads in the Far East described locally as Suju can look like dichroic glass but are in fact simply coloured glass. Some of those beads were manufactured in Indonesia using asbestos to line the bead hole. Such beads are commonly identified by a grey/yellowish powder coating around their bead hole. That powder could be Asbestos and whilst we always lab-test all the materials in our products there may be a few suppliers who do not. If you have any suspicion that any bead or jewellery which looks like dichroic glass or has been described as Suju and has this powder coating, contact your nearest licensed asbestos removal agency immediately.

Information on Dichroic Glass

dichroic glass pendant

Dichroic glass is valuable mostly because it can reflect bright light without glare. This makes it greatly in demand from the medical and photography professions. "Dichroic Glass" is a slightly misleading term because it is composed of layers of thin metal oxides which creates all the various colours. These layers are so thin that they have to be supported by a material, for which glass lends itself perfectly. Firstly because it is Transparent, secondly it is rigid and thirdly it is stable, and can withstand the high temperature needed to manufacture the glass. For this reason it is increasingly being used in making silver jewellery. The image shows a dichroic glass silver pendant



blue dichroic glass necklace

Dichroic glass Attributes and Properties

The alluring feature of this special glass is its remarkable ability to reflect light in a multitude of various patterns. This contrasts to glass which simply allows the light rays to pass through and absorb whatever the colour of the glass is. Commonly dichoric glass have layers arranged in such a way as to emulate the colours of the rainbow.

Another example of jewellery that uses this material can be seen on our blue dichroic glass necklace that has chunky beads strung together in an effective style.