Engraved Beads? Possible? Info Needed.

Q: I'm looking into having a bead bracelet made, but I want something engraved into the beads. I have been searching around for someone who can do this, but have had reletively little success. I'm thinking either crystal or hermatite beads, is it possible to engrave something in them somehow, or maybe they would have to be engraved at the time they are made?

A: Engraving on gemstone beads would be possible. You would need to find someone who is a lapidary, who knows how to carve crystals to do it. I do have a jadite donut engraved with chinese characters, but I should mention that they are not very visable unless you are right on it. I would think if you were going to have gemstone beads engraved after the process, you would have to use a flattened tab or disc bead. The round ones would be really hard to stabilize in order to engrave something on them, just my opinion. I may have missed it in the original, but I wasn't sure if it was metal, glass, or stone beads. In any case, engraving may not be the only option. Glass and metal can be acid etched. Glass, crystal, stone, and metal can all be sandblasted. What will make a big difference is the size of the bead and what needs to be engraved/etched on it.