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

   When embarking upon a collection of any kind the most important thing you can do for yourself is to learn as much as you can about sources, authenticity and basically anything you can find out about what you are about to invest your time, money and passion in.  I can’t stress it enough, do your research! The Trollbeads history is rich with information and how the collecting world has received them, embraced them and unfortunately copied them is valuable information.

Recently I was invited to join a “Trollbeads Beginners” Facebook Group and while I was flattered to be asked I found it the most frustrating experience.   More than a few of these new Trollbead collectors were making grievous mistakes as they were searching and buying for Trollbeads in all the wrong places.  What was worse was the fact they were telling their fellow members to buy from these sources. I thought if I made a comment to help them reconsider this approach, as they were in fact buying from sellers known to sell fake Trollbeads, but that didn’t work.  People don’t like to be told they have made a mistake and anything I would have said wouldn’t have sunk in.  If I could have guided them to the Trollbeads Gallery Forum they would have learned that it is very difficult to detect fake beads.  People like to find information on their own as on a forum and not be told.

Trollbeads Gallery Forum is the one place on the internet that has valuable information because the information is coming from very seasoned collectors, all of whom watch out for each other as they carefully create and gather their collections.  Many of the Forum’s members have been collecting for decades and can lend an experienced viewpoint when it comes to retired beads or about Trollbeads in general.  A few of the members sell on auction formats around the world and what they sell is legitimate and it is in their best interest to share their knowledge which includes outing the fake Trollbeads Ebay s with warnings.  It is in all of our best interest as the more fake beads sold the more will be out there to re-sell when they discover they’ve been had.

One very interesting thing I discovered on the Forum is the truth about seller ratings. DO NOT GO by this.  There are plenty of disreputable dealers who, once discovered by the buyer, will tell the buyer if they give them a positive rating they will then get their money back.  I started this forum as a place to gather and to get collectors to learn together but I have to say as a dealer (Trollbeads Gallery), I too have learned a great deal here.

Trollbeads Gallery Forum has a very popular section called “Groups”.  Anyone can form any kind of group as long at involves Trollbeads! There are many country groups and state groups as people like to discuss Trollbeads with local collectors and find out the goings on locally.   Below is a list of the most popular groups.  The most popular country groups are the U.K. collectors group and the Danish Collectors group. There is a total of 54 groups below are just 5 examples.

1. Collectors who revere retired Trollbeads.

2. Danish real time chat.

3. What you don’t know about Trollbeads and want to know.

4. Beads swap groups.

5. Collectors who have over 15 bracelets. 

If you haven’t yet joined do yourself a favor and do.  It’s painless and very informative. Did I mention there is over 14,000 photographs from collectors showing their Trollbeads?  There is no better inspiration anywhere. The photo above is from an Australian collector and is indicative of the kind of photos you will find on the Forum.

 This will be a hard article to write.  As a dealer of Trollbeads it is not my desire to offend anyone who feels differently on this subject than I do,  so let me say we all have different ideas and “to each his/her own when it comes to this glorious passion we all share, Trollbeads”.

One thing we all agree on is our love of Trollbeads.  We adore the silver beads in all their amazing and sometimes amusing shapes, forms and meanings and we all love the amazing glass beads in their many colors and textures. We love to talk about them, share them, swap them, photograph them and create our own names for them.  We love to build bracelet after bracelet.  Sometimes I think we are all just reliving our “pop-it” beads memories from our childhoods but with grander style beads.

As much as they are a part of our everyday lives I have come to see that the levels of commitment are so complicated, they confound my comprehension of it.  There is one underlying reality to each one of our relationships to our Trollbeads collections and that is our own conscious and unconscious rules of collecting.  What am I trying to say without meaning to say one approach is any better than another, is that collectors all have a unique position when it comes to Trollbeads. 

To simplify it there I think there are basically 3 kinds of collectors and you’ll see this can apply to any other collections.

 1. This group is made up of purists who know they are and can’t imagine it any other way.  It’s close to being a quasi-spiritual thing.  

2. There are Trollbeads collectors who consider themselves serious Trollbeads collectors but they have other beads on their bracelets. 

3. Then there are collectors that love to collect beads no matter their origin or pedigree and mix it all up.

 The strange thing is I understand the third group better than I understand the second.  As I mentioned one is not better than the other but as a collector I have always collected for the purity of my collection and by purity I’m not talking about cleanliness!  I have thought long and hard about this because I was wondering if I would feel the same if I was not a Trollbeads dealer but when I think about my other collections they have always been within the realms of what I consider “a collection that have a similar provenance and are of one theme”.  Please remember what I said earlier, it isn’t right or wrong, it’s just the way we are wired.    As an example consider my sea glass collection. It’s made up of the sea glass that only my husband and I have found. Whatever has been given to me I keep in a separate place and if I buy sea glass for making jewelry, that stays separate also. This is about the pride I take in my 30 year old collection. If I added pieces from other sources I couldn’t feel it was as much a part of us as I now do.  I would feel inauthentic.  If I had sea glass from other people in my collection I wouldn’t feel the same way towards my collection. The same goes for everything I have ever been passionate about. 

Bringing this back to the variety of Trollbeads collectors, in my position I get to see many, many people collect Trollbeads and I enjoy every one of them. There is however a certain level or way we each relate to our collection and it is so fascinating for me to observe and think about but so difficult to explain.  Some collectors, as absorbed by Trollbeads as they may be, will have artisans copy Trollbeads in order to get the bead design they want. I have never understood this but for these collectors it’s all about attaining the beads they can’t get otherwise. If they want a retired Trollbead and they can’t find or afford it they’ll have it made by an artisan.  It seems so counter-productive because in the end what they get is not a Trollbead at all. One huge problem with this is the chance that these beads will be sold later and then someone will think they have a Trollbead when they don’t so the dealer part of me doesn’t think this is ethical and for the future of the brand I worry.  It goes back to how we personally feel about our own level of collecting and if authenticity has a place.  For some it doesn’t matter and it’s all the differences we all have that make Trollbeads such an interesting passion to share.

Louise Rogers

Just 4 more days until 7-1-11.  World Tour Beads USA!  We will have the whole set available by the bead or by the set! www.trollbeadsgallery.com

  When I discovered Trollbeads I learned that there was more then only the regular collection. I read about unique beads, limited editions, retired beads and more. I think that makes this brand so special. Collecting Trollbeads is like being on a treasure hunt.

If you really want to be up to date and want to know about every release you really have to put some time in your hobby. Visit Trollbeads dealers, look in all their boxes, snoop on forums for sneak peaks and look on webshops for special beads.  And if you are lucky your piggy bank can keep up with all the great beads that pop out of the great ‘Trollbeads Creators’ in Denmark*.

At the beginning I didn’t know where to start. Did I had to hunt down all the great retired beads like crane, joyful and bead of prophecy? Or should I choose a specific type of unique bead, for instance with buds or flowers, and search a bunch of those? Or should I just buy what I really liked and don’t follow others preferences?

On Trollbeads Gallery Forum there is a topic about collections in collections. It is great to see that some people have necklaces full with unique armadillo’s, bubble beads or ambers. And even retired beads. They have set a goal and are on hunt constantly. I really love to see their photos.

But I don’t have that urge or need for a specific bead. My goal is to collect beautiful regular beads and from the special beads I would like one or two (or a few more) of everything.  Chinese jades, pink agates, picasso jaspers, kimono beads, gemstones. I feel proud when I spot them lying around in a shop. I like to combine them with others to get a nice variety on my bracelet.  

I have a few favorites in my collection like the anniversary cater pillar and anniversary Viking bead (shown below). The retired python, lovely peacock pearls and some great unique beauties, they are my little treasures. I am satisfied with them. For the simple reason that I, mother of three little children, just can’t buy a bead of prophecy or a glass turtle bead. And that is alright, a person has to have something to wish for. In the magical world of Trollbeads everything is possible.

*Unique beads come from Tibet and China. Lise Aagaard gets most of her unique beads from refugees, among others. Lise maintains a close relationship with the artists. With each group of unique beads that arrive in Denmark she will go through them and she will chose the best and give these artists an increase in compensation.  The special beadmakers learn the skills of making glass beads and earn money in doing so.

Anna Teresa is a guest blogger from the Netherlands and has a great interest in Trollbeads and is a professional journalist.

 How I met Trollbeads!

I have always loved jewellery. I am a Leo and like to express myself. With my outfits, my hair, my accessorizes. About eight years ago I started to make my own necklaces and bracelets. I sat in my living room with beads and tools all over the table. Every spare moment I had I was busy with beading and creating. I think I have an eye for color and design: people really liked my items. So I sold them to my sisters, friends, colleagues and even jewellers.

Then I became pregnant with my first son. I adored him and soon my hobby was driven to the background. I was a mother now and with my job as journalist I had no time for other things. Son number two followed quit quickly and in June 2009 I welcomed my third son to the world. In my first years as a mother things had changed in my life. I noticed that I needed a tidy house to keep overview. So all the stuff I collected in my life little by little made room for baby stuff. I didn’t mind. I only kept what was really important to me: photos, diaries, jewellery.  And the box with beads and tools was moved to the attic.

On a Saturday in july 2009 my mother took me to the jeweller to buy me a gift for becoming a mother again. We bought earrings with pearls. The salesgirl wrapped the gift and gave me a little brochure from another brand. At home I took the brochure and I turned over the leaves over and over again. What I saw where beads in sparkling colors and great designs. I was attracted to them, could not believe I did not know about this brand that was called Trollbeads. I did some research on the internet, called for my husband and said: what if I would buy one of these. And I did. One week later I was the proud owner of a silver necklace with an antique flower, dolly (retired), drop black (retired) and a flower lock.

Since that purchase I discovered more and more about Trollbeads. I read on sites and forums about the Aagaard family, retireds, unique, designers and the story behind the beads. I started visiting dealers and soon knew everything about the brand. I don’t need to say that all that research  involved buying more beads. But that was all for a good cause. After years of being a mother, a wife and a journalist I had found a new hobby that I could easy combine in my busy life. It gives me a great new way to express myself. Playing with the beads is relaxing after a long day of work and best of all: my new love doesn’t cry, doesn’t wear diapers and fits in a small box!

Anna Teresa is a journalist and lives in The Netherlands. Anna Teresa is a member of Trollbeads Gallery Forum and a good friend to many of her fellow forum members!

Think about the first collections you were consumed by. If you were lucky, as I was, it was young in life. You had someone in your family or in your group of friends who showed you a collection and you became enthralled with the idea of having something to collect. That is how it happened with me. I can still remember every collection I was ever shown and I can tell you everything I ever collected and I remember with fondness the innocence of my desire to “collect”, not so much to own but to have an interesting group of one thing, a collection. It gave me a sense of pride and it formed a thirst to hunt down whatever it was I was collecting. What better way to teach a child about themselves and about the value of what they choose to collect. The most serious collection I had was collecting stamps. I would take my allowance to the old stamp store and buy a package carefully encased in a wax paper envelope and run home to see if I was lucky enough to find one my stamp book was missing. It gave me the sense of amassing, of working to earn something and I began to understand the value of money. How many young children do you know today have this in their lives? One of the benefits of being a Trollbeads retailer is being able to see children and see their minds working as they pick out their first beads.

     We once had a 3 year old who took shopping with Nana as a very serious endeavor. Cate would get up on our step stool and do her own choosing. No matter what Nana showed her she always had her own idea. Think about the memories both child and grandmother will always have. Cate never takes the bracelet off. She is shown in this photograph with her Trollbeads bracelet.

The idea of earning the beads comes later and girls and boys around the age of 7 to 8 do understand the concept of money and will work for allowances to purchase their own beads. These collectors have their own story books with the beads they want circled and starred. There are so many benefits of having young people collect something they are fascinated with. Beyond the value of the money, they learn what they can do without to add to their collection. They learn to take care of their collection,polish it, protect it and watch it grow. Trollbeads tell a story and who enjoys stories better than anyone?  Children! Are there young children in your life that could benefit from collecting Trollbeads?