Reichenbach Aqua

I am not a paid color tester for any glass companies, not that I would ever turn down the opportunity if such a thing existed. Nor am I a professed expert on anything glass related - color, viscosity, compatibility or otherwise. I am just a beadmaker trying to get a handle on the ridiculous bundles of unorganized and uncategorized glass in my studio.

If I am ever to get my act together and determine which colors I absolutely must have in my collection, I need to start taking notes. Since I am taking notes for myself, I thought I might as well share them with everyone else just in case you might find my ramblings interesting or useful. So here is my first color review: Reichenbach Aqua [RL-4015].

In rod form this glass is a very pretty pale aqua with a slightly more greenish tint than Effetre pale aqua. There are really no surprises when melting it and it stays true to color in bead form. I didn't bother to do any reactive testing with silver, sulfured glasses and the like because I was really most interested in the how the glass itself works up, although I bet it would be gorgeous with some fine silver.

It is stiff. Very stiff. I sometimes like to use Effetre pale aqua as an encasing glass, but I would not do the same with the Reichenbach. It took too long to melt and never got nice and buttery, which is a quality I like for encasing. It took a fair amount of heat to get it malleable enough to press. Admittedly, it took me three attempts to get enough heat in the bead to squish it cleanly - which is a tricky balancing act when pairing it with heat sensitive pinks and purple like I did.

The color is sharp and crystal clear like most of the transparent Reichenbach glass I have worked with. It did not bubble or scum for me at all and retained is beautiful clarity though all the tormenting I gave it. It is a very pretty color, but at nearly 3 times the price of its Effetre counterpart, I cannot justify making it a staple in my palette. Perhaps if it was a little more dense and not so pale and worked up a bit softer I would reconsider.

These beads currently up for sale on eBay if interested.