Beads & Pearl For June & Mr & Mrs Bead’s Turkish Trip
31st May 2026
Next weekend, Saturday 6th June, at the London Kent Bead Fair – Farningham Village Hall. Just off M25 J3 & M20 J1 – DA4 0DE. The latest semi precious by MrBead with seed beads & findings by Southampton Bead Shop.
MrBead Shop: https://mrbeadshop.com. For all shows this year, click Bead Fairs 2026
Content:
Upcoming Bead Fairs
Beads For June Jewellery
Bead Fair Reports
Mr & Mrs Bead’s Turkish Trip
The Secret Of Pearls
Knotting a Pearl Necklace
Enjoy a Bead Fair Soon
2026 Bead Fairs
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Upcoming Bead Fairs
Next weekend, Saturday 6th June, at the London Kent Bead Fair – Farningham Village Hall. Just off M25 J3 & M20 J1 – DA4 0DE. The latest semi precious by MrBead with seed beads & findings by Southampton Bead Shop.
Then, the following weekend we’re at the Lincoln Bead Fair, Saturday 13th June – and Norwich Bead Fair, Sunday 14th June.
Beads For June Jewellery
With longer days, summer colours, and craft fairs beginning across the country, June is the perfect time for lighter, nature-inspired jewellery designs.
Semi-precious stones such as amethyst, rose quartz, turquoise, agate, and moonstone are especially popular in early summer. Soft blues, greens, and pastel shades work beautifully in necklaces and bracelets with a relaxed seasonal feel.
Popular summer combinations include:
- Natural stone beads with silver spacers
- Glass seed beads in soft pastel colours
- Shell charms, leaf pendants, and pearl-style beads
One of the joys of semi-precious jewellery making is that every stone is unique, giving handmade pieces real individuality.
Simple elastic bracelets are perfect for beginners, while experienced makers may enjoy:
- Wire wrapping
- Memory wire designs
- Multi-strand necklaces
Summer fairs and craft markets can also provide inspiration and opportunities to sell handmade creations.
Whether for a hobby or small business, semi-precious bead jewellery remains a relaxing and creative craft that combines colour, texture, and personal style.
Click To See Our Semi Precious Beads
Essex Bead Fair
Essex was good. Very busy for the first few hours. We even had a couple from Cantebury: 2-hous away!
New Forest Bead Fair
This show is always booming, and this one didn’t disappoint. We’ll be back on Sunday 13th September – see at New Forest Bead Fair.
Devon Bead Fair
A new venue for us, near Honiton, but we did have a problem with the wi-fi, so not sure we will return to the hall. Otherwise the show went well, with one visitor travelling 2 1/2-hours from St Ives!
Cornish Bead Fair
Johnny from Southampton Bead Shop had to visit his mother in China, so Michael from Bead Buyer joined us. We love it in Cornwall and will return for our show at Wadebridge on Sunday 19th July – see Cornish Bead Fair.
Mr & Mrs Beads’s Turkish Trip
Every Easter Holiday we take the opportunity to go away. This time we combined a trip visiting three dentists in Turkey – too choose the best for implants. MiMi and I need new teeth, as they keep falling out!
We flew from Luton to Istanbul, then to Antalya. All three flights were only £150 each, with return to Gatwick. The best dentist was in Istanbul – where we must return twice, for 6-days per trip, to get the work done. Picture shows the state of my teeth! What’s £35,000 in the UK, is just 8-grand there.
The Secrets Of Pearls – For June Jewellery
The pearl is the queen of gems and the gem of queens
To make quality, impressive jewellery that’s appreciated, go for pearls. Everyone loves pearls. They’re versatile and always look good. Pearls are expected to be expensive as they’re usually natural and in short supply. Prices have gone up 400% over the past 4-years – so don’t sell your pearl jewellery cheap!
However, since the 1950s, natural pearls have been cultivated by man – making them more affordable. More profit for the jewellery maker! Cultural freshwater pearls are not inferior to sea pearls.
They form in mussels for the same reason. Farmers’ slit the mussel and insert small pieces of tissue from another mussel. To reduce irritation, the mollusk coats the intruder with nacre it uses for shell-building.
Pearl Jewellery Sells!
Pearls are expected to be expensive and in short supply
Pearl jewellery sells because people understand pearls are natural. However, since the 1950s, natural pearls have been cultivated by man – making them much cheaper to buy. This means that including them in jewellery, you will make you even more profit!
What are Cultured Pearls?
Cultural pearls are more durable and less sensitive to environmental change than sea pearls. Cultured freshwater pearls occur in mussels for the same reason saltwater pearls occur in oysters. The least expensive cultured pearls today rival the most expensive natural pearls ever found.
Foreign material inside a mussel can’t be expelled. To reduce irritation, the mollusk coats the intruder with the same secretion it uses for shell-building, nacre. To cultivate a pearl, farmers slit the mussel and insert small pieces of live tissue from another mussel.
The ancient Chinese practiced this technique, but the first real cultured freshwater pearls originated from Japan in the 1930’s. Japanese farmers by Lake Biwa achieved natural colours previously unseen in saltwater pearls.
The most desirable colours are pastel pinks, roses, lavenders, and purples. Natural colour take the colour of the shell in which they form. However, permanent dyes are used today for saturated colours.
The Best Pearls
Good pearls have thick overlapping layers of nacre. This can be tested by viewing its “lustre”. Roll the pearl with a pen in bright light – the best pearls will reflect the pen more.
A large pearl is only more valuable if it’s the same quality as a smaller one – the rounder the better. Being an organic gem, grooves, pits, or dents are expected.
What is Mother-of-Pearl?
The shining, playful, reflected light of mother-of-pearl has attracted attention since ancient times. The natural material has always been popular.
From then, different technology has turned mother-of-pearl into many uses, apart from jewellery. Today, it’s dyed every colour under the sun – creating attractive jewellery at affordable prices.
The mollusk forms mother-of-pearl as a protective shell. Like the pearl it’s a secretion of the mantle, composed of alternate layers of calcium carbonate and conchiolin.
See our Mother of Pearl Beads
Glass Pearls
These are coated glass to look like the best quality pearls. Any pearl that’s a perfect round shape without grooving, will either cost thousands or made of glass! However, glass pearls are fantastic value for money and are popular for affordable fashion jewellery. To see our colourful range of glass pearls from £1.25 a string, click here.
Matching Pearls
Matching pearls isn’t easy. Try to buy all the pearls for a project at the same time, as later batches may not match. When balancing pearls for jewellery, you need to consider:
- How the pearls blend together in colour, shape, lustre, size and surface perfection.
- How smooth the size increase is of pearls in graduated strands.
- If a necklace is part of a set, all of its pearls on earrings, bracelets or whatever, must match. However, don’t put too much attention perfectly matching against other factors.
See All Our Pears At: Pearl Beads
KNOTTING A PEARL NECKLACE
You’ll see tiny knots in between each pearl on a good necklace. This prevents the pearls rubbing against each other – and if the necklace breaks, beads won’t fly. Knotting also makes the necklace drape nicely and adds length so you need less pearls.
Pearls should be restrung every few years, depending on wear and exposure to hair spray, perfume, body oils, lotions, moisture, and perspiration. This weakens the silk and cause a potential break point for the strand.
There’s a few ways to knot a beaded necklace – this is the easiest. First choose silk or nylon cord. Silk is traditional, however it can snag and fray. Both come in different colours and sizes – thicker cord for larger beads. For beginner’s technique, two strings are put through each bead, so use a thinner size. For 6mm beads, use size 2 for this technique, and try to match the colour of the cord with the colour of the beads.
A popular way to start any beaded necklace is with bead tips. The only difference here is that two strings of the cord are inserted through the bead tip instead of one. Easier than using one strand of cord, and the results look almost the same.
- Once the necklace is started, string on a bead, and make an over hand knot.
- Make the knot tight so it’s snug up against the bead.
- Continue to do this: string a bead, make an over hand knot, string a bead, make an over hand knot.
- Finish the necklace as you would any beaded necklace whether it’s knotted or not.
HOW TO TELL REAL FROM FAKE PEARLS
You can identify fake pearls by what they’re called: simulated, faux, glass, plastic, resin, artificial, manmade. Genuine pearls are called natural, cultured, freshwater, or sea.
Real pearls can be either freshwater or saltwater, and it’s very difficult to tell which. There’s also shell pearls and genuine pearls which have been artificially coated or dyed.
Professional Testing
If you want to buy expensive pearls that are perfectly matched, a gemmologist certificate is essential. It costs about £100 for a test, as opposed to thousands for the type that warrant the test. An x-ray will show variations in density inside of the pearl and the characteristic shapes of drill holes.
The Tooth Test
Rub the surface of the pearl over your teeth – a real pearl feels gritty, while a faux pearl feels smooth. Real pearls are made up of layers of nacre that are deposited like sand on a beach. The slight waves in the nacre give a bumpy feeling against the teeth. However, dye can fill in natural depressions.
Close Inspection
Look at the pearls in bright light. Unless they’re very expensive, genuine pearls have slight variations in shape, size and colour – along with grooves in their nacre, with ridges or pits. If any are perfect sphere or grainy smooth: they’re suspect. Cutting a pearl open reveals everything. Natural pearls are comprised of many layers of nacre. Cultured pearls have a mother-of-pearl shell core covered with a thin layer of nacre.
Pearl Holes
Examine drill holes to see the nacre layers and what lies beneath. Real pearls are usually drilled from both sides to meet in the middle – making the hole appear wider at the outside edges. Holes of fake pearls are usually strait and are more likely to be larger.
Other Clues
Real pearls are heavier for their size than fakes. A genuine pearl necklace is more likely to be knotted and set in gold or silver. You can examine clasps for stamps in the metal. The clasp should have a safety mechanism – no one would use insecure clasps on good pearls.
Faux Pearls
Faux pearls, although manmade, are not necessarily a cheap substitute to the real thing. They have genuine beauty of their own, looking “almost” the same as natural pearls costing thousands. They’re created by coating the outside of glass with pearl powder. This is then dipped into various solutions of pearl film to simulate the lustre of a natural pearl.
Pearl Care
Special care is needed for pearls. Since they are naturally porous, ensure they don’t absorb cologne or hair spray. Although oils from your skin help keep the pearls from drying out. Pearl jewellery is often in a felt pouch – keep the pearls in this to prevent scratches. To clean pearls, wipe gently with a damp cloth, not using jewellery cleaners .
Click To See All Our Many Pearl Beads
Enjoy a Bead Fair Soon
Bead shows are great fun. You’ll love them! Bring a trolley, as beads get heavy. Take some cash, as a few venues have a weak signal for card payments. Talk to the vendors and other visitors to inspire new design ideas. Make a note of what you paid for beads, and keep exhibitors’ business cards and leaflets.
2026 Bead Fairs
We have booked 30 shows so far for 2026:
Sat 6th June: London Kent Bead Fair, Farningham Village Hall DA4 0DE – Just off M25 J3 & M20 J1
Sat 13th June: Lincoln Bead Fair, North Kyme Village Hall LN4 3DL – off A17
Sun 14th June: Norwich Bead Fair, George Hotel, Norwich NR2 2DA
Sat 27th June: London Luton Bead Fair, Stockwood Hotel, Luton LU1 3SS – Just off M1 J10.
Sun 28th June: Worcester Bead Fair, Ombersley Village Hall WR9 0DY
Sun 5th July: Cambridge Bead Fair, Harston Village Hall, CB22 7PX
Click For All Bookings: 2026 Bead Fairs
15% Off All From MrBead
Enjoy 15% off anything with no minimum order. Shipping is free too on UK orders over £45. International shipping from US$13.
Can only be used at the NEW shop & not with any other coupon. To get the discount Key PEARLS at checkout now, as offer ends Friday 5th June 2026. Use at https://mrbeadshop.com.
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