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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is your return policy?
If you are not happy with your purchase from SirWatson Beads for any reason, I will happily refund 100% of the cost (minus shipping). Simply contact me and we can work something out! : ) I want you to be completely satisfied with your purchase! Please note that I am not responsible for uninsured items that were lost or broken in the mail.
- What is your privacy policy?
Any information you provide me while placing an order will be kept strictly confidential. I will not sell any of your personal information to third party vendors. Like you, I despise the amount of junk mail, spam email, telemarketing calls and any other cheap marketing ads we all receive on a daily basis.
- Do you have a mailing list?
At this time I do not have a mailing list since I personally found that being on them can be annoying at times. If I have important information that I need to share with my customers, I'll post it in my journal, which can be found here.
- What does "lampworked" mean?
Lampworking is a technique of melting glass rods to create beads, small sculptures, buttons or marbles, that dates back several centuries. In earlier times, oil lamps were used to melt the glass, which is how manipulating molten glass became known as "lampworking". In today's society, oxygen/propane mixed torches are used, which produce cleaner, more efficient flames to melt the glass. Lower budget, single fuel torches are also available.
- How is a bead made?
Five major items are needed to make a bead. These items include: a torch, fuel, glass rods, bead release and mandrels. Mandrels are stainless steel rods of varying diameters that are used to wrap the molten glass around. Each mandrel is dipped in a solution called bead release prior to making any beads. Per its name, bead release helps keep the beads from sticking to the mandrels. Once the mandrels have been dipped, the torch is used to heat up the rods of glass to a melting temperature. Once the glass is molten, it becomes pliable and soft -- sort of like warm taffy. The molten glass is then wound around the dipped mandrel until the desired bead size is obtained. Gravity will naturally pull the bead into a round shape, and various lampworking tools can be used to manipulate the beads into a variety of other shapes (i.e., cubes, tiles, lentils, hearts, barrels...). Once the bead is finished, it is placed in a kiln to anneal overnight. The next day, the bead is removed from the mandrel, which is how the "hole" is created.
- What is annealing?
Annealing is a process which removes the stress that forms within a bead while the bead is being created. When a bead cools down, the inner temperature is much higher than the temperature of the bead's surface. This creates stress which can cause the bead to crack. As such, the entire bead needs to be brought to the same temperature and "held" there for an extended period of time. This is known as "soaking". A kiln is programmed to keep beads hot (let them "soak") and then slowly bring down the temperature over time. Doing this removes the stress that can form within the bead and will ultimately make the bead stronger and more durable. There are alternatives to annealing in this manner, but none of them are as effective as soaking a bead in a kiln as soon as it was made.
- Where did the name "SirWatson" come from?
I started comically referring to my dog, Watson, as "SirWatson" during a time when I lived with my friend, Sara. Watson is notorious for snooping around in the trash, and at the time I would yell out, "SirrrrrrrWatson! What are you doing?" He'd come prancing into the room with one of his toys as if he was an innocent, "little angel". As time went on, Sara also started calling Watson, "SirWatson", but she had her own little flair about it. She would call Watson, "SirWatson J. Peabody." (ha ha ha!) I thought that was so funny that it just stuck. Watson has a lot of nicknames ranging from Wats, Watsy, Watsonian, and (most lovingly of all) Dorkus, but none of them have been around as long as "SirWatson". : )
- Where can I purchase your beads and/or jewelry?
Currently SirWatson beads and jewelry are available through my Etsy boutique.
- What is the best way to contact you?
Like most people, I work a corporate day job that has "big brother" established, so I cannot access my personal email accounts from work. Also, due to recent advances in spam technology, I don't list my personal email address on my website. As such, I've built an online contact form which will send me an email. I check my emails as soon as I get home from work, so you can typically expect a response from me some time after 5:00 PM CST.
- Where are you located?
I live in a suburb just outside of wonderful Saint Louis, Missouri. Go Cardinals, Rams and Blues!
- Why are your beads and jewelry more expensive that what I can find at my local costume jeweler?
SirWatson beads and jewelry are higher priced than costume jewelry because of the quality of the pieces, which are created one by one. No two pieces are alike. Costume jewely is cheaper because it's mass-produced and typically made of plastic beads and/or findings. Some costume jewelers do sell jewelry with glass beads, but the beads are mass-produced in China and are not of the highest quality (not annealed for strength, holes not cleaned, poor designs). Also crystals in costume jewelry are usually of a very low quality and do not sparkle as much as genuine Swarovski crystals.
Each lampworked glass bead I create is wound by hand and one bead can sometimes take 30 minutes to make! Once the beads have been annealed in a kiln, I clean the holes of each bead to remove the residual bead release. I then carefully inspect every bead to ensure there are no chips/cracks and that the designs are as perfect as I can get them. :)
Each piece of jewelry I create uses the highest quality materials available. This includes beautiful Swarovski lead crystals, genuine Bali silver beads, sterling silver or 14k gold-filled (not plated) findings and freshwater pearls and of course....SirWatson beads!
So, each SirWatson bead and/or piece of jewelry is truly a work of art!
- Question not answered? Please feel free to contact me! : )
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