Art - I own a medium-sized (old) Italien Chevron with 13 layers as well. When I find it, I'll post a picture. I never thought that many layers were difficult to make, until I heard you saying that it was difficult indeed. Seems the Italians have been able to do that too.

Question:
Do you fire-polish your beads after the grinding process? Or do you get this smooth shine from grinding or "mechnical polishing" alone, if these are the right terms to describe the process?