Miyuki  VS Toho

You will find beads vary dramatically between manufacturers. They are generally divided into Japanese Seed beads, Japanese Cylinder Beads, Czech Seed Beads and Others. Bead selection makes a tremendous difference in the finished effect of your jewellery .

In this Blog however I am going to concentrate on two specific Japanese seed bead manufacturers as they seem to be causing a divide within the beading community with regards to the most popular and preferred choice to weave with.  I have also included a small section in Peyote stitch to show you the difference between both Miyuki and Toho and also for any new beaders I have included the economy seed beads to clearly demonstrate the difference between what you get from weaving from three different manufacturers.  

Toho and Miyuki Seed Beads are both precision manufactured Japanese seed beads, renowned for their consistency in Colour and size. These high quality beads are ideal for bead weaving, bead loom work and bead stringing thus resulting in perfect and beautiful results every time. 

Toho seed beads are glorious round seed beads and are available in a range of sizes; 3/0, 6/0, 8/0,11/0 and 15/0. Toho seed beads provide you with a larger threading hole than other conventional seed beads, creating a lighter bead that is suitable for multiple pass troughs. Beads Jar sells the Toho seed beads in tubes for easy storage!

An example of a Toho design below.

Miyuki the seed bead of choice for many jewellery designers. These Rocailles (or rounds) are also available in a range of colours, sizes. They do have smaller holes to the Toho seed beads but when woven they fit together beautifully. Be sure to check out Beads Jars design ideas page and seed bead guide for inspirational Jewellery Designs and weaving projects.

An example of A miyuki design below. 

Having myself used both I really couldn’t force myself to make a certain decision over one or the other as both are superb in quality and I have loved working with them.

The only slight gain is that the Toho is a cheaper buy I also do enjoy the feel of these beads a bit more.

Here is the example of all three seed beads in a small section of Peyote stitch and all are using round seed beads in size 11.

Left to right: Economy Round, Miyuki and Toho.

Have a try for yourself and tell us what you think through our Facebook page

Until next time keep beading and speak soon. B x