Silky beads come in various finishes. There are opaque and transparent colors.
There are several types of coatings too.
The beads I used in the Nexus bracelet (pattern by Deb Roberti) are examples of the "vacuum" finish. When applying a "vacuum" finish - beads are spread in a tray in a single layer and then the tray is inserted into a special machine to apply the "vacuum" finish. Depending on the bead orientation in the tray, the finish will either be on the top of the bead or on the bottom. The only way to get the finish consistently on the top or bottom of the beads would be to hand sort the beads in each tray - adding extra time and cost to the process.
At first glance, beaders may prefer to have the coating all on the tops of the beads, but I rather like the contrast effect made when alternating the top finish vs. bottom finish beads, as shown above. Bead colors with the word "Full" in the description have the finish on both the top and bottom of the bead.
Below are some examples of Deb Roberti's FREE Silky Stacker pattern, also highlighting the 1/2 coating on these beautiful Silky Stackers.
