CiM: Messy Color™ Watermelon Ltd Run, A cloudy transparent orangish red.

Messy Color™ Watermelon Ltd Run

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A cloudy transparent orangish red.

"Watermelon is a very good color! A little problem with cloudy transparents like Watermelon- they are very delicate and easy to burn. That means that on the bead surface white foam is visible. These color needs to be heated on a very small fire." – Olga Ivashina

Click here for other interesting Watermelon Ltd Run discoveries.

Laura Sparling

Jean Daniels

"This is Watermelon, a transparent with opaque pigment in it. Gorgeous color, really. I’ve paired it with a test batch of Rhea. Spacer beads are pure Watermelon."

Lori Peterson

Pauline Chevalier

Josephine Wadman

Base of Effetre Opalino White, Frit (Glittering Prize colour “Strawberry Milkshake”) and Watermelon wrapped over the 2nd and 4th bead.

Heather Johnson

CiM Tester Feedback

Watermelon is a cloudy transparent.

Testers were divided on whether or not they liked the cloudy transparents.

"I like the cloudy transparents. Lots!" – Carol Ann Savage

"I didn't get on with the cloudy transparents. If you can add more pigment and they are not shocky, I think they would be good." – Suzy Hannabuss

"I found the cloudy transparent glass to be much stiffer than other glass so it was a bit hard to sculpt with." – Lori Peterson

"I had rods of cloudy transparent colors that were light as well as rods that were very dark. I made some beads with the dark rod of Watermelon and very little light came through the glass and the color was unappealing to me. However, the dark rod of Chocolate is a very nice brown. With such a huge difference between rods, I think it’s kind of a confusing sale if dark and light rods are presented as the same color." – Gloria Sevey

Many testers reported that our cloudy transparents were prone to shockiness or breakage. **Please pre-warm / pre-anneal rods accordingly.**

"In general, I have found the Cloudy Transparent colours to be a bit shocky. For the most part, this was quite manageable and well worth the effort, at least for the colours I've tried so far." Read more at Melanie's blog. – Melanie Graham

"I experienced neither shockiness nor boiling with the cloudy transparents. I did use a cool flame though. I’ve changed my method of introducing glass rods to the flame which reduces shocking considerably [almost non-existent unless there are holes in the rod]. I rotate the tip of my rod way above the flame for a short time and then slowly rotate it downward into the flame. It’s usually starting to melt by that time. That said, not everyone uses this cautious of a method and might have rods being shocky because of being put into the flame when they’re still cold." – Gloria Sevey

"In the new cloudy colors it does seem the thicker the rod the more saturated the color seems to be. I had zero issue with Heather, Morgan and Watermelon. However my beloved Pink Lemonade and Vintage Rose were super shocky even with kiln warming." – Michelle Veizaga

"Heather is a little shocky so a little pre-warming and careful introduction to the flame is all that’s needed. I’ve not had a lot of luck as Heather layered over Effetre White cracked [probably thermal] and when I tried over CiM Peace I got all sorts of crazy cracks. I found Chocolate a bit shocky, certainly more so than Watermelon which surprised me since they are both cloudy transparents and made in the same way. However pre-warming the rod seemed to help and the shocky-ness certainly wouldn’t put me off." – Heather Johnson

"I agree with the mostly-too-shocky." – Dwyn Tomlinson

"I made a clear base and encased with the cloudy transparents, but sadly the beads cracked." – Trudi Doherty

"I experienced micro cracks when combining several of the cloudy transparents with 96 COE frit." – Darlene Collette

"I didn’t have any problems with the cloudy transparents! They weren’t shocky or boiled, but I have to admit, that I work in a cold flame and very carefully to prevent any bad incident." – Claudia Eidenbenz

"I found them intolerably shocky." – Laurie Nessel

"I preheated all the testing rods in a Devardi rod warmer as it was particularly cold in the UK at that time and this is something I always do that time of year. By doing this I didn't experience any shockiness. I also used a very thin encasement of Effetre Superclear 006 before applying cloudy transparents as an encasement - no issues." – Juliette Mullett

"I found the cloudy transparents shocky, that they boiled easily in the flame which created micro bubbles on the surface of beads, and that under clear encasement some of them cracked." – Jolene Wolfe

Some testers reported that our cloudy transparents were prone to boiling.

"I did find some cloudy transparents could boil if you worked them too hot. I like to work them cooler and with not too much oxygen in the flame." – Trudi Doherty

"I had no issues with any of the cloudy transparents apart from a little bubbling in 1 or 2 of them." – Juliette Mullett

"Another thing common to all of these colours [so far] is that they can be easy to boil, so you really have to watch your heat. This is true not only with fine stringer, but also when applying the glass from the rod to your bead. Work higher up in the flame and a bit cooler to avoid this problem." Read more at Melanie's blog. – Melanie Graham

Testers were divided on whether or not they liked the wispy or streaky quality of the cloudy transparents.

"All but two of the new color strands sold and the two that didn’t sell didn’t get much attention [Chocolate and Heather, both cloudy transparents]. I think that maybe those cloudy transparents just didn’t have enough zing to capture the mood hopes of this moment in time." – Gloria Sevey

"There are lots of straight transparents. I'd vote for more cloudy transparents. If the glass is wispy then you can use those qualities to your advantage when making beads." – Carol Ann Savage

"I loved the wispy/streaky quality, for me that was a big part of the attraction." – Trudi Doherty

"I think the wispy/streaky quality is great for certain designs, but it's not something I prefer." – Laurie Nessel

"I quite like the wispy quality, but I do like the more saturated streaks." – Heather Johnson

"Some of my studio mates were unhappy with the color saturation in the cloudy transparents, particularly when making blown beads." – Janet Evans

"I thought the wispiness was an upside. We have lots of solid colours and very few wispy ones. My opinion is that the wispiness is a plus and fills a gap." – Melanie Graham

Join Trudi Doherty's FB group Lampwork Colour Resource Sharing Information for a catalogue of color study.
Claudia Eidenbenz’s "Vetrothek" (glass library) is a great resource for color comparisons.
See Kay Powell’s frit testing samples.
Browse Serena Thomas’ color gallery.
Check out Miriam Steger’s CiM color charts.
Consult Jolene Wolfe's glass testing resource page.

"Portrait in Watermelon, etched soda-lime glass bead, 2.21" x 1.25" x .79". New CiM Watermelon over a white substrate, Effetre black core. I think the wispy/streaky quality is great for certain designs, but it's not something I prefer. I recommend a cool flame when flamecutting to avoid boiling. Some specs of boiled glass had to be plucked out, but they are manageable."

– Laurie Nessel

"I made this set using Firedragon, Watermelon, Sangre and Clockwork with gold foil on the surface of the beads. There was no problem with any of the glass in the flame, no bubbling, shocking or scum. They are all lovely colours. I particularly like the bright scarlet of the Firedragon."

– Josephine Wadman

– Olga Ivashina

"Watermelon is an interesting 'cloud power' glass that is new from CiM. The rod that I was given to test had quite a few bubbles making it a bit shocky so prewarming it in the kiln was necessary to conserve the glass. This set of beads used CiM Unicorn as a base with Watermelon encasement and original Poison Apple ends. Note this is the older formula of Poison Apple that turns opaque after annealing. Dots of Double Helix Oracle Black created clean dots on each bead. Spacers are solid Watermelon and Poison Apple." Read more at Darlene's blog.

– Darlene Collette

"Watermelon is a unique, gorgeous, cloudy, swirly, orangey-pink. Very, very nice!"

– Gloria Sevey

"Watermelon is my winner for the latest round of testing. It's a brighter, more saturated colour than Fruit Punch. It's hard to describe the colour, more of a light red than a pink. I like it." Read more at DragonJools blog.

– Dwyn Tomlinson

"Watermelon describes this colour perfectly. Quite an orangey-red on its own, this glass can add a lovely tint when layered over other colours. It melts smoothly and easily. Very much a no-fuss kinda glass." Here shown plain and over Effetre white.

– Heather Johnson

"Looks just like watermelon with a streaky hue- can look like spun silk if applied in layers and swirled. Pretty lush colour, perfect for summer."

– Juliette Mullett

"Watermelon is another cloudy/streaky transparent. I keep wanting to call it strawberry. I think it is more in between watermelon and strawberry."

– Suzy Hannabuss

"Watermelon is one of the new 'cloud power' colours that CiM has developed, made with clear glass that contains colour pigments giving a striation effect. The first bead I made was the heart bead, made purely with Watermelon. This made the bead look more like a solid colour, as I wanted to see the striations, I decided to experiment by adding layers of clear. The round one in the middle was made with a layer of clear, encased with Watermelon and repeated. The donut shape bead on the right was made with a thick clear base and encased once with Watermelon. Both of these show the special effect of the glass, and means a little will go a long way! Watermelon is an interesting glass and you can get different effects depending on how you use it."

– Trudi Doherty

"This heart pair is made with solid Watermelon. I really like the bright juicy colour and semi transparent 'powdery' look. The negative with this glass for me is that I like to add small dots of glass at a time to the faces of heart beads and press several times to build up the perfect shape. I am finding that the tip of the rod boils easily and leaves micro bubbles when I add the extra glass." Read more at Kitzbitz Art Glass' blog.

– Jolene Wolfe

"Watermelon is an orangey red cloudy transparent and it’s lovely. Again, it’s a very well-behaved glass and it requires no striking or faffing to get consistent results. The photo shown here is all Watermelon over Effetre White 204." Read more at Laura's blog.

– Laura Sparling