During a buying trip to southern Germany,
Ava Motherwell found a small factory that had been making beads for 120
years and 4 generations. Originally, the family made glass beads, and
then in the 1960s they switched to manufacturing exclusively plastic and
resin beads to keep up with the fashion of that time. Plastics became
very popular with designers because of color, size, weight, and price.
One of the reasons Ava fell in love with
these beautiful beads is that they look and feel like Vintage Lucite and
Bakelite. The resin is still hand-mixed in small batches to keep the
unique feel and high-quality that is important to the manufacturer and
to her. The beads are molded using many of the same tools that have been
used since the 1960’s.
