Wow, this is such a great report, I keep reading and re-reading it - excellent excuse for a coffee break!

Recently I've been looking at "wedding cake" style beads rolling around in my boxes, trying to discover which might be Czech instead of Venetian. They're all older than the ones made in India that past couple of decades, so that county of origin isn't an option.

I know to look for white release as a Czech clue, if the beads haven't been cleaned out...anyone have some other clues?

Possible Czech beads seem to have a tighter and more precise decoration and construction - the "petals" in the forget-me-not motif are all nice little pentagons and not scattered all over the place, for instance. But maybe some lampworkers are just less casual than others...