Trollbeads information that can inspire your creativity with your own Trollbeads collection. Share your thoughts, be involved and please leave comments!

 IMPORTANT UPDATE! Books are beads are being shipped to stores next week! Week of 4-16.

We are thrilled to learn the Tourmalinated Quartz  Trollbead and the Coffee Table Book, "An Icon in Jewelry Design, Trollbeads" set is here in the United States and will start shipping this next week.  The faceted bead and the book sells as a set for $128.00, not including shipping, the shipping cost is $10.50.  Authorized dealers are  to sell the bead with the book as a set.  The bead is featured in the Coffee Table Book. The edition is very limited and this stunning bead will always be a special Trollbead.  The stone has also been referred to as a Rutilated quartz although there is a slight difference.

On Trollbeads Gallery Forum our Australian and European members have been highlighting their Quartz beads in their photographs and it is a dramatic and quite unusual bead.  I know many collectors will be very grateful we now offered this set. The faceted stones in the Trollbeads line are so rich in color and texture.  The small scale facets add a texture and depth to the smooth glass beads on a bracelet.

Tourmalinated Quartz, is a variety of clear quartz with naturally occurring needle-like inclusions of dark Tourmaline or black Tourmaline also known as Schorl.  It can be polished to give a very effective look for jewelry purposes.

As with all stones the Quartz has many properties in folklore and in the mystic qualities. Tourmaline Quartz is said to detoxify the  body and is used to treat disorders of the digestive tract.   Another interesting belief is that it is said to be a problem solver and a unity stone.

The photo below was taken by our Forum member Linda from Australia, thank you Linda!

Top Ten Best Selling Glass 1 Trollbeads

I know how much fun it is to see what the best selling beads are at Trollbeads US and they have just published a list for the top 10 in each of the Trollbeads catagories. I have included links to their photographs. 

For Glass 1  (all sell for $31.00)

Beach  This bead has a soft sparkling within the blue glass giving it an appearence of the ocean on a sunny day.  One side of the bead has a sand color and sometimes dark grey which signifies the beach. It is incredibly clever and makes most customers smile when they see it.

Midnight Flower  A deep cobalt glass with floating aqua flowers floating differently within each bead

Whitecap My all time favorite because there is always a variety of colors, all in the same family but some have more blue and some have more green and that's not even addressing the pink that comes through occasionally.  (photographed above)

Grandma's Favorite  A lovely soft violet toned bead with darker toned flowers.

Conch  A wonderfully textural bead with many soft bumps.  A nice lighter neutral Trollbead to own.

Blue Petals  Blues in a soft pattern of petals.  A good balance bead for the Midnight Flower.

Sea Urchin  So much like the Sea Urchins from the Ocean.  Very natural and neutral tones.

White Stripe Alternating stripes of clear and white stripes.  You can never have too many stripes and you can never have too many white beads.

Azure Bubbles A perfect example how one Trollbead can have so many looks.  Hand created beads are the best.

Summer Dot In design, whether interior design or fabric design polka dots have always maintained  their popularity.  This bead is a soft and true pink.

In future Blogs I will be listing all the Trollbeads categories of the top 10 sellers.

(Joyful is shown on the left)

It has been a very interesting few weeks in the Trollbeads world.  If you don't know what I'm talking about drop down to the blog discussion prior to this and read the commentaries.  We definitely have 2 camps of thought but there is news from Trollbeads and it concerns a decision that no more retired beads will be re-released.  I know that this will sadden those of you who were hoping for a Crane or the Old Fruit but the old beads will remain what they are-old and hard to find Trollbeads.  This will make many older collectors ecstatic.

For quite a few years I have been involved with the retired beads and it's something I am known for.  When someone wants to sell they come to me and if someone is interested in buying they come to my site Trollbeads Gallery and find the retired bead section. I have been fortunate to be able to offer the price to pay the collectors have been asking but they have come to the value by searching other websites and auction ending prices.  The internet has a wealth of knowledge and history about many sales of items from clean fill to Trollbeads. If anyone has done the research you will find the prices for older retired Trollbeads to be very high.  Trollbeads dealers have close to nothing to do with this as we price the beads and for the most part we only add enough for overhead and for the cost of selling the bead.  This includes the 3-4.5% we are charged by our credit card processor or Paypal.  This means the prices of the older beads are legitimately the price they are.  If there is high demand and few beads we know what the value will be.  Another issue in the retired Trollbead world is the fact that in the earlier releases compared to the last 6 or 7 years Trollbeads production was much more limited.  Think about when they made beads just for Denmark, as they did in the beginning. The numbers were low and that's why beads like "Big Fruit" and the set of Monkeys or any of the really early beads are so valuable.  There just were not many made.  Move up a few years with Trollbeads selling in 60 countries and the bead production has to sustain this and they produce the quantity for the collectors they now have. This means the recent retirements, meaning 2008,2010 and 2012 will never reach the value of the original beads because of the large numbers they made.

Imagine you have been a collector for 5-10 years and you've been focused on attaining the "Chicken in the Egg", the "Joyful" and others all at the current going rate of $800 plus.  You have bid on autions all over the world, stayed up all hours watching the price go up and up until you bid well beyond your limit to win that elusive bead.  It's not just ownership that gives pleasure, it's the passion of the pursuit and the pride of the total collection that pushes your buttons. It isn't just a collection when you are in the high stakes with this kind of puchase and for some, investment.  It's the whole picture including all of what Trollbeads are about and what the company is about.  You have put all your faith into this company and you know they would not do anything to hurt the value of your collection.  Are you still with me here?  You look at your collection and you see the amount of passion and money you have expended without an ounce of regret...that is until you hear that there are plans to recreate these same beads in huge numbers so everyone can share the bead.  The re-release of Joyful was an emotional event for long time collectors and for those of you who are newer collectors and could not understand this I hope you can now see it from their point of view.  Yes indeed it is nice that Joyful can be in everyone's collection but there are so many other wonderful new beads that can accomplish a very similar look, such as the Silver Whorl.

The great news is Trollbeads did in fact hear the pain so many of you felt and expressed and will not reissue any retired bead. Think of that. Can you think of any other company that actually listened to the wishes of their customers this directly? As I began this discussion there are 2 camps here and for those of you who were hoping for a "Crane" or a "Big Fruit" take joy in the fact that so many great beads are introduced each year and enjoy the new ones as I know I do as I personally don't have the older beads except in the museum. If you do want some retired beads many recently retired beads are still available at your local Trollbeads dealers or if not there, try through our retired beads section on Trollbeads Gallery.

Additional thoughts:  I should say "for the immediate future" all plans have ceased as far as making any more old beads over again.  As for the distant future...well you know business. Decisions in the business world are changed all the time so I think I'll leave it open to what may happen a few years out. 

Let me first start by stating there is nothing that says this will be happening beyond the Mother's Day release, so don't panic, but I'd like to hear from you the collectors what your thoughts are.  Please share them with us so we will fully understand your feelings.

I want to say here that many of you are upset that the Mother's Day bead is coming out (you all know what it is but I cannot mention it yet) and when I think about the comments on Trollbeads Gallery Forum I believe a lot of the emotion is centered around the basic lack of information. 

There seems to be a leak somewhere within the Headquarters of the company. You are all finding out about Trollbeads releases before we as dealers do and while this is fun for collectors to have the inside scoop it causes problems to the retailers who are left unaware.  Take for example this coming limited edition of the Mother's Day Bead. I have not been told by Trollbeads or by Trollbeads U.S. that it's happening but I do know it is.  This in itself is ridiculous but then add to that the fact that dealers in other countries (and hemispheres) can announce it on their sites and it becomes even more twisted. The U.S. collectors are not getting information from us (the U.S. dealers) and are panicking we won't be getting it so they and are pre-ordering from the foreign sites.  This hurts the collector because they will likely be paying more for it and it hurts the U.S. dealer because we are loosing sales. Add to that the fact that we are at a disadvantage because we are not allowed to sell outside N.America but dealers around the world can sell to U.S. collectors.  So it's a double whammy.  Although the collectors are the are the ones who are thrilled about getting the hot informaiton before the company releases it they are also the ones hurt by paying more.  No blame on the collector here at all but if we were to be given the information at the same time directly from the company then we would all be on an equal playing field and we would have correct information and rumors or verbal assaults (some are very unhappy about the re-release) would not have to occur.  It would be a lot more fair if the actual facts pertaining to the release is given but this never happens because the information is always leaked before the product is produced. Hmmm, makes you think doesn't it?

Take for example...one more time that elephant sitting in the center of the room...or the Mother's Day release. When it is released it is my hope that the story about the re-release also defines what is unique about it so that the collectors who paid hundreds of dollars for the first release can rest assured knowing there is a way to tell the 2 editions apart.  It's my wish that when any Trollbead comes into the market a second time around it should be accompanied by all historical information and all up to date information. It should also show a stamp with a figure designating the date it was made. For example when the Pink Prisms were released to Australia (before the U.S. had them in the BCA set) the Australian dealers were not given sufficient information and were telling collectors the prisms were new beads and had just been remade.  The fact is the glass that had been used to make those beads was discontinued a long time ago and that was the reason the bead was retired along with the fact the glass used was not predictable and the beads were sometimes translucent and sometimes not. The beads that were sent were the old beads they discovered in a box in the vault during reconstruction but were stamped before they left the building, as all beads are now.  People were saying all sorts of things about these beads and none of it was true but the damage had been done. When the rest of them were released in the Breast Cancer Awareness kit the sales suffered because there was such confusion over what the beads were.  The collectors didn't know because the information was not released by the company at the time as the bead.  There should be full disclosure at the time of release so no one has to guess at the reason for the re-release or have to guess when comparing one edition against the other. 

Information or no information we are very fortunate that Trollbeads is honest and moral in all business dealings and decisions and we just need to keep faith in that.

Louise Rogers

February 29, 2012

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This is so exciting!!!  When you consider the thousands of entries Trollbeads gets for their annual People's Bead contest it is so exciting to have 12 of these finalists on Trollbeads Gallery Forum. This is the 4th year of the contest and this year was the first year a topic was given and it was based on spirituality.  If you haven't looked at the finalists yet on Trollbeads Universe please do and take the time to vote for your favorite beads...you can vote more than on one bead!  Quick-the voting is over on February 26th! So act fast!

The Finalists from Trollbeads Gallery Forum:

Sarah Schoenauer, Brenda Rappo, Kristi Denning, Iris Morrow, Sherrie Pennington, Anne Lilleby, Tina Parker, Linda Karuso, Maria af Rolen, Sue Dowling, Erica Mizzie, Suzanne Hopping, Michele Dellanno.

I wonder what the odds are that 12 winners are a part of this group.  I am not taking personal credit for anything but I have heard it discussed often there is something magical about our Forum and it has something to do with being a part of a group who collectively drench themselves in the spirit of Trollbeads day in and day out in the spirit of sharing your passion in an open and caring way.  I was never a joiner of groups but this has been a perfect example of what being a part of a group can do.  It's capable of providing the positive power to build your sense of esteem and knowledge on the group's common interest. It also affects your willingness to put yourself out there for the whole world to see and to vote on.  Our finalists first had to come up with a concept, then work the ideas into designs and then they had to have the inner strength to submit them.  I think of the commitment they all had and hope you can follow the link to TrollbeadsUniverse and vote for our winners. It is up to us to show the entrants how proud we are of all of them!

Congratulations to all. 

Louise Rogers

Photo above is the Pax and Ice Bear Trollbeads both People's Bead Contest winners from 2009 and 2010 by Suzanne Hopping and Kristi Denning respectively.  Below is Kristi holding the model of her Ice Bear at Trollbeads Fest 2010 and a picture of Suzanne and me (I'm sure we were drinking ginger ale) at the same Trollbeads Fest. Suzanne was visiting from Australia and Kristi is from Maryland. 

I am always interested in seeing our websites sales statistics as far as the product numbers and in discovering what are the best sellers.  Specifically this past month because of the large release of new beads and with the retirement of so many older Trollbeads.  Each month I see stoppers and bracelets as one and two so we will skip right past that and move on to the beads.  The Mixed Armadillo, a new bead, does not surprise me as being the number 1 seller.  The green is rich and the shadings are quite beautiful and as in many glass Trollbeads there is a lot of variants from bead to bead.  The Cream Armadillo at 2 doesn't surprise me either because it's neutral and easy to use and of course everyone loves armadillos!  This bead doesn't have any variants or none that I can notice.  Number 3 is Opposites and I adore all the new barrel beads and I am thrilled the size and the resulting price has not prohibited some from getting this bead. The Coffee Cup is the 4th biggest selling of the new beads and there's no surprise there!  Who doesn't like a great cup of coffee?? Mountain Flower is a sweet Group 1 silver with a double flower. Black Squirrel coming in number 6 just goes to show you how much people will miss this bead, it is one of many leaving the collection.  Tea Cup is a great one and like Coffee Cup the price is the lowest silver price and haing a cup of tea is symbolic for taking time out to enjoy the simple things. The Valentine Bead is always a best seller in February and as a gift it's large size and beautiful framework makes it a stunning Valentine's gift. Like Black Squirrel the Red Feather has also been retired and people were busy scooping it up for their collection but maybe also for their Valentine's Bracelet.  With the retirement of this bead and "China Red" we see two less red glass beads in the line. Flying Geese, another barrel bead, is 11th and White paper fold is 12, another neutral bead. 

If you haven't had the time to see the new beads just click on the bead below and it will take you to that bead!

1.Mixed Green Armadillo

2.Cream Armadillo

3.Opposites

4.Coffee Cup

5.Mountain Flower

6.Black Squirrel

8.Tea Cup

9.Valentine

10. Red Feather

11.Flying Geese

12.White Paper Fold

Tell us what your favorite Trollbeads are from this most recent Trollbeads introduction.  To see them all got to What's New Trollbeads Gallery.  Hapoy Trolling!

 It seems incredible but it has been a full year since Trollbeads Denmark took over the reigns as distributor for the United States.  On January 25th 2011 Trollbeads CEO Peter Aagaard announced through an email to the U.S. retailers, they had set up operations in Princeton, NJ and were ready to start shipping.  There were definitely some bumps in the road before it became a reality but the majority of the Aagaard's family had been here in the states all committed to making the transition as smooth as possible. They all had been busy working day and night setting up the new hub of distribution and this was just the start of a major shift of how Trollbeads would be seen by the U.S.  It wouldn't long before Trollbeads would be appreciated as a major mover and shaker in the jewelry retail industry.   The newly formed company's fine tuned professionalism began to shape TrollbeadsUS as we knew it into the new Trollbeads-United States as it now is. The prior distributor had under invested in marketing, national advertising and the activity at events on the national stage had been rare. But now that has all changed and with millions of dollars invested in advertising, participating in social marketing and by participating in major jewelry industry and fashion events the new Trollbeads-United States has positioned itself to continue to rise and be acknowledged as a major player in the collectible bead industry. After all Trollbeads was the original player 35 years ago.

Besides creating strong advertising campaigns the changes included many store visits from the Trollbeads core people including the family and the designers. They created a glass bead making demonstration event that many stores have hosted and will continue to do so. Just as Denmark was needing Peter and company to return home, the new CEO of Trollbeads-United States was announced. In mid September Michael Belleveau took over the helm from Peter Aagaard and with a smooth passing of the reigns Peter headed home with the U.S. distributorship in Michael's capable hands poised to continue to grow the brand while staying true to the Trollbeads business Mantra.

With the brilliant new Trollbeads introductions we have seen so far in January I feel assured 2012 is going to be a record breaker and I'm looking forward to continuing to enjoy the ride and I hope you are too!

Louise Rogers

Trollbeads Gallery

The photo above was taken in the gallery when we had Soren Nielsen exhibit his wax designing methods and a visit from Peter Aagaard.  I started the day by showing our Danish guests around Mattapoisett with a ride to the lighthouse and ended the day by enjoying a dinner next door at the local diner!  From left to right Carole, Soren, Kimmie,Louise, Penni and Peter.

If you collect Trollbeads and haven't yet checked out the most positive gathering place for Trollies...Trollbeads Gallery Forum you are missing something.  Put in the most simplistic terms it is an online dialog for Trollbeads collectors to learn all things about Trollbeads and to converse with other Trollbeads collectors from all over the world. 

This forum is going into its third year this spring and we are nearing 3000 members and we have over 17,000 photographs of our member's Trollbeads collections.  What better way to find out about a brand then to hear it from the hundreds of collectors?  The environment is one based on friendship, honorable dealings (if you venture on to our swap group) and a deeply routed interest in Trollbeads.

Our members are collectors of all kinds.  Some members just like retired Trollbeads, some just want one bracelet although that is rare and then there are some who have dozens of bracelets and who would sell their mother to get more! With joking aside we are a group of Trollbeads fanatics who want to share (with anyone!) our love and interest in Trollbeads. Below I have written about our gatherings and will be writing more interesting forum aspects on the other features in future blogs. If you would like to write about your experience on the forum please write a story and I will publish it here as a guest blog.

Gatherings: Since its inception Trollbeads Gallery Forum has been the conduit between many "meetings" large and small taking place all over the world.  Many members in the U.S. will plan a meeting place, usually at a local dealers, and meet and greet the friends thay have had on-line for a long time in person for the first time.  As a dealer and as the forum's founder I have hosted 2 Trollbeads Fests during the last two autumns here in Massachusetts with notable guests from the People's Bead Award winners to Trollbeads designers from Denmark to the CEO if Trollbeads Worldwide, Peter Aagaard.  Each year at out gathering based aournd our forums membership, we display our Trollbeads Museum which has many of the retired Trollbeads from years past and that are now hard to find.  Every chance we get we love to learn more about the history and we love to share [our knowledge at these gatherings.  In the photo above you will see me (the shortest in the front row) in Copenhagen, Denmark at a gathering of the forum's members when I traveled there in early December 2011.  They were wonderful to me and treated me to lunch and to a fun group of Troll type gifts. It was an amazing day for me and as you can see from the back row Soren, the original Trollbeads silver bead designer joined at the Tivoli Trollbeads store.  If you are a member have you planned your next gathering?  We will be releasing information on Trollbeads Fest! 2012 soon so check the site in a little bit. Trollbeads Fest

Thank you for reading our blog!  Louise Rogers

What is Standard Trollbeads With a Twist?

Sometime last year I created a new category on Trollbeads Gallery entitled "Trollbeads With a Twist" and while it's been a quiet category it is also hard to keep Trollbeads on there for long before they are snapped up.  Recently a forum (not my own "Trollbeads Gallery Forum") mentioned our Twist Trollbeads and I have received a few emails asking me what they are.  So with this blog I can offer a definition for people to come and read.

They are just what they are called, standard in-line glass or stone Trollbeads with a twist or something that makes them unique from what the average in-line bead is supposed to look like.  For me it is a labor of love as I have to sort through all the Trollbeads that come in then photograph them and then process the photo through photoshop and then spend the time listing them...all for the same price as the bead is if you were to buy it sight unseen on the website.  There are 2 definate pluses for my customers when I can sell like this.  First a website buyer is usally only able to buy sight unseen as the beads all pretty much look similar and with the twist category they are buying the bead that is photographed which is similar to the Unique Trollbeads listings where I list 1-3 photographs per bead.  The second benefit is if you are collecting a bead such as the bead shown above, the Blue Desert, andif you are looking for a variety of versions for a necklace then this is way you can shop for the unique versions. Many collectors don't have the luxury of a Trollbeads store close by. I also think of it like another sort of unique bead.

Both of these Trollbeads shown on the left and above left, believe it or not, are both the "Blue Desert" Group 1 Trollbead for $31.00. See how extraordinary the differences are?  The difference here shows just how much one bead can appear in the line. It is true that "Blue Desert" is one of the most variable beads in the line but there are plenty others that can look different bead to bead.

The Azure Bubbles is a great one for this "Twist" category. I think the one I just listed is #42 which means I have listed 41 other uniuqe Bubbles that have all sold.  Organic Bubbles is another great bead for me to list.  Sometimes the stripes in Khaki Stripes aren't khaki at all but rose,light blue and even yellow.So if you want your Trollbeads jewelry to have a creative twist to it just check out this out this category from time to time!  

The three glass Trollbeads above  are unique versions of

1.)Fireflies-You don't often see the two wings with 2 distinct colors.

2.)Black and White Stripe-Usually the black stripes are larger and more like maroon.

3.)Azure Bubbles-This bead is always wonderfully different from bead to bead.  Below shows just how different the Azure Bubbles bead can change.

I know it's hard to hear but by now most Trollbeads collectors know there is a price increase coming on January 27th. This is true but the fact is 2/3rds of the line has remained the same. Unfortunately since the beginning of business, as we know it, price increases are a fact of life.  When an increase happens, no matter the business, it sparks anger and disappoval from all those who will be affected by it.  As in past price increases with Trollbeads this increase has set the fans complaining and asking why and while some of it is negative and not productive, it is very good to ask why. In the age of the internet we are given tools to create a dialog with the people at the head of companies we would not normally be able to easily communicate with. So I am suggesting if you keep your comments to more of an inquisitive nature you may in fact get some answers.  I don't know anything more than you do on this increase but I am guessing if an insult is a part of your comment I don't think it's should get a response but that is just my opinion.

One comment I thought deserved some attention was made by an astute collector who pointed out that Pandora raised prices and has lost a lot of business and Trollbeads should pay attention to their competitors and reconsider the price increase.  This is a constructive comment and I understand the source.  I have been very fortunate this year to become close enough to observe some of the management of the company and I can assure you that they have adept skills at monitoring the market in respect to the bead/charm segment and know fully who they are within it.  A lot of consideration goes into any decision and the price increase is no exception. It's a very challenging and disruptive thing to decide upon but to maintain the business at the present level of quality I am sure it was a decision they had to make.  As for the Pandora situation I know through reading articles and business papers published internationally that Pandora's problems go a lot deeper than any price increase can take the blame for.  Pandora is owned by a international multi-conglomerate that makes decisions based on what the board and investors want.  Their IPO in Denmark was presented on facts and numbers not quite accurate and the stock has reached the lowest ever and has hurt all of the initial investors.  In contrast Trollbeads is privately owned and the owners are the decision makers armed with industry and financial knowledge not many other small companies possess.  Owners are always much more responsible to their customers where in contrast the conglomerates or publicly held companies such as Pandora all decisions are based with the profit for the stock holders in mind.

Many other comments on this price increase mention the current price of silver being down over last year's price but it is not to see the prices see below. The price of raw metals is an important factor but just one of many costs incurred to create, produce and market a product. Running a jewelry line today is like walking a tight rope never knowing what the market is going to do and there was a time when raw goods were more stable as was pricing. I personally know how the cost of doing business has increased straight across the board and more so in the last 10 years than ever before.  Year after year I watch as bank charges have increased, the cost of offering payment by credit cards has skyrocketed, insurance costs which include health, casualty, autos, disability have all gone through the roof and this is just the obvious costs. For example our disposal costs for our retail stores have increased to over double what they were 6 years ago. These mounting costs go right down the line from management to the distributing companies to the representatives and finally to the store.

Silver per ounce

Oct 2010: 23

Oct 2011: 32

Jan 2012: 29

And gold:

Oct 2010: 1350

Oct 2011: 1680

Jan 2012: 1610

In processing all of the factors that goes into pricing I think we can consider the path taken by Trollbeads to be the lesser of two evils.  Increase prices and continue on the same successful path or stay at the same prices and end up having to lower the quality or the size of the beads or the production.  In the end we know it is your choice to buy Trollbeads just as it is the choice of Trollbeads to risk losing some of its collectors in order to stay true to its mantra and true to a large portion of its collectors.