The short answer
Liuli is glass. It is coloured glass shaped by kiln casting, a technique used in China for over a thousand years, and we call it glass on every page. Each bead is cast separately, so tone and translucency vary a little from bead to bead, and small internal bubbles are normal. Judge it by the evenness of the colour, the crispness of the moulded shape and the finish of the drill hole. Treat it as you would a fine glass object.
Glass, not stone
The word liuli is unfamiliar to many buyers, and a bead this luminous can look like a stone or a crystal in a photograph. It is not. It is glass, and every product page says so. We would rather you know that before you order than find it out afterwards.
What kiln casting is
The piece is modelled first. That model is invested in a mould, and the glass is melted into the mould slowly over days. When the glass has cooled, the mould is broken to release it. One mould, one piece.
This is why liuli looks the way it does. The surface carries the detail of the mould, so a lotus bead has petals with edges. The colour runs through the body of the bead rather than sitting on the surface. And because every bead is its own casting, no two are identical.
The liuli pieces at GrainMoon
The Ancient Wish bracelets are lotus-shaped liuli beads of 12 mm, 14 beads to a bracelet, each bracelet with a Tunjin beast charm. They come in the colourways named on their pages: dusky lavender, crystal ice, milky white and rosy frost.
The incense ash bracelet comes in 10 mm or 12 mm beads in five-element colours. Its page describes the beads as liuli glass with an incense ash infusion. We repeat that wording and hold no further detail about it.
How quality is judged
- Evenness of the colour through the body of the bead.
- How few bubbles sit near the surface.
- The crispness of the moulded shape: on a lotus bead, whether each petal edge is clean.
- The finish of the drill hole.
Small internal bubbles and faint variations of tone are normal in kiln work and are not counted as faults. Bubbles near the surface count against a bead; the internal ones are part of the material.
Why two bracelets of the same colour differ
Because each bead is cast separately. Tone and translucency vary a little from bead to bead; that is the nature of the process, and a bracelet is a set of fourteen individual castings. Two bracelets of the same colourway will be close, and they will not be identical. If an exact match between two pieces is what you need, glass made this way is not the material to choose.
Are the bubbles a fault
No. Small bubbles are normal in kiln-cast glass. They form as the glass melts slowly into the mould, and they are part of how the material is made.
How to keep it
It is glass, and it is cared for as glass.
- Keep it from knocks against stone, tile and other jewelry.
- Clean with a soft damp cloth and dry it.
- Do not use ultrasonic cleaners or hot water.
- Store each bracelet in its own pouch.
What the colours traditionally mean
In Chinese five-element tradition the five colours red, blue, green, white and brown stand for Fire, Water, Wood, Metal and Earth; the incense ash bracelet uses those five. The Tunjin beast on the Ancient Wish bracelets is a creature of Chinese folklore. We describe both as tradition, not as a result, and nothing about a bracelet is promised beyond the glass itself.
