CiM 532 Birthstone

CiM Birthstone - a transparent aqua that is almost, but not quite, identical to Effetre 034 Light Transparent Aqua.

That's the Effetre on the top, and the Birthstone on the bottom.









 Basically - they look very similar, but the Birthstone is just slightly smokier in hue. Read on to see what I mean.

 These are 3 self coloured beads. The middle one has a sooty streak - which is not what I mean by smokier. But I did get that sooty smudge a couple of times which could mean that I did not clean the glass properly (or, truth be told, at all ... ) or that I did not have the oxygen / gas ratio perfectly in the zone (probably also true, as I turned it up several times while working - the oxygen, that  is. ) These are made on natural gas/ tanked oxy.

 And a nice little olive barrel bead - for a longer working time than just a spacer. I tried reducing this to see if made a difference - apparently not.

 This is over a core of white, and the left side is the Birthstone, and the right is the Effetre. Here is what I mean by "smokier" - the colour is ever-so-slightly grayer in hue.

 This - however - is another trail of soot. Only on the Birthstone side. And in this case, I honestly don't remember if I turned up the oxy again before proceeding. Sorry.

 Over white.

 Over Effetre Light Turquoise.

 Over ivory. Of course it reacts - but did you know that aqua over ivory gives you green? Yes it does!

And a family shot. You can see the subtle difference between the ends of the long barrel bead in the back.




Some people report a problem with transparent aquas, in general, "frying" when they work them, and so I should think their question is: "Does this glass fry?"

And I can't say that I saw that, but I don't generally have a problem with that anyway - so I think that must be a personal working style.

Are the streaks of soot a characteristic of this glass? I can't say for sure - I'd have to try more of it to find out.

Would I choose to use it over Eff Lt Aqua? I might, although for most people, I think that the subtle colour difference probably won't be enough to matter to them.