Collection: Bead Spacers

Bead spacers, also known as jewelry spacers, are a small but mighty component in jewelry making and design. As their name suggests,  spacers are used to separate beads and other jewelry elements to create visual space and interest within a piece. With the variety of shapes, sizes, materials and styles available, our spacers provide endless options to make your jewelry creations truly unique.

What Are Bead Spacers?

Bead spacers are small decorative components that are strung in between beads. They can be made of metal, glass, crystal, plastic, wood, bone and more. Bead spacer shapes include round discs, tubes, bars, hearts, stars and other geometrics. Sizes typically range from 2mm up to 10mm or more. The design options are nearly limitless!

These spacers serve both form and function when used in jewelry. Visually, they break up long strings of beads to create separate “groupings” and provide negative space. This helps establish design flow and visual interest. Physically, the spacers keep individual beads separated so they don’t rub and scratch each other. This helps maintain the integrity and beauty of the materials used over time.

Use in Jewelry Making

From statement pieces to charm bracelets, our spacers have many applications in DIY and custom jewelry:

Bracelets: Spacers act as separators between beads, charms or other elements like chain links on bracelets. This prevents scratching and allows components to move freely.

Necklaces

 On long necklaces, our beads  provide visual separation between focal beads for an interesting drape and silhouette.

Earrings and hair accessories:

 Spacers add dimension and detail when used on earring drops or within the beaded strands on hair pins and hair sticks.

Kumihimo ( gathering threads ) and macrame: In braided jewelry techniques like kumihimo  ( gathering threads )  and macrame, our bead help define the segments that form the braid’s pattern.

 Thin metal bead spacer tubes or bars can be threaded onto a flexible wire to create customizable stacking ring and bangle sets.

The design options with our  spacers truly are endless! Mixing metals, shapes and sizes can completely transform the look and style of a piece.

Bead Spacer Materials

Today’s wide selection of bead spacer styles and varieties allows you to match the exact look, feel and structure you want in finished jewelry:

Metal: Aluminum, brass, copper, stainless steel, sterling silver, gold filled and more. Provides durability and an elegant finish.

Glass: Crystal clear, colored and painted glass options for a classic, artisan appearance.

Acrylic: Durable, affordable plastic spacers resemble glass for a transparent look. Some contain glitter flakes for added sparkle.

Wood: Natural wood, shaped wood and painted wood options offer an earthy, Eco-friendly accent.

Bone: Animal bone and tagua “vegan ivory” have an organic, carved appearance.

Ceramic: Handmade ceramic and porcelain styles provide weight and artful designs.

The variety gives endless options to match (or intentionally contrast!) the bead spacers with bead colors, shapes and textures within a jewelry piece for lots of design flexibility. Mixing material types is also popular for further interest.

Using Bead Spacer Bars and Tubes

Linear bead spacer bars and tubes offer versatile use cases as design elements in jewelry:

Connector bars: Long, thin connector bars link components. Used to join chains, jump rings, crystals and other elements into a flexible line.

Bracelet bails: Bead spacers for jewelry making act as bails to attach charms or pendants along the length of a bracelet.

Spacer tubes: Small threaded tubes provide structure. String beads and jewels onto wire then space out with tubes for texture.

Wrapped bars: Bars and wire wrapped together make interesting textures for bracelet links, chainmaille projects or between beaded sections.

Where to Buy Bead Spacers Online

For DIY jewelry makers, bead spacers are easily sourced online in a range of styles and prices suitable for any project budget. Top online retailers offering a vast selection of quality spacers and shipping include:

beadablebliss.com: Handmade and vintage spacer styles abound at this artist marketplace.With the right spacer selections, bead jewelry designs can transform from simple to stunning. These diminutive detailing components elevate any handmade or DIY jewelry piece with striking textures, defined segments and beautiful negative space. Explore the limitless options to see how our  bead can enhance your jewelry masterpieces!