Beads & bead supply wisdom

This is a compilation of thoughts from my experience in trying to supply my own beads: 

• Generally I have not been able to supply beads from one singular shop.  Even though the beads I'm after are classic colours.  I have three suppliers I would probably go back to in India and USA.
• The beading world is endless in the shape and variety.  Yet the ones I'm after are Alabama Chanin's style of applying beads, which I think is just awesome.  In the beading world, this is how I go about finding them.  
• Alabama Chanin bugle beads are 6-7mm or size #3 bugle beads
• Alabama Chanin chop beads are size 11/0 hex beads, also called 2-cut
• Alabama Chanin bead beads are size 11/0 seed beads
• I believe Alabama Chanin uses Preciosa, one of the world's best reputed beading companies
• Preciosa, the company, is a huge manufacture who really doesn't give a fluff about small players, even many official bead suppliers.  They have a huge market available to them in the USA and Middle East (so tells me a bead supplier).  If you want to order directly from them, you need to kind of be a somebody.  It's a bit of a snobbish world (referring to the beading world).  Manufacturers don't have beads sitting around in every shape and colour, so you need to order it... I believe Preciosa requires 30kg per order of bead in one specific shape/size/colour.
• Preciosa has a very well developed silver lining technology, which gives you your colours like gold.  No silver lining, no metallic sparkle!
• Japanese beads by Matsuno or Miyuki, in my opinion, are even better.  Even better consistency and edges.  Preciosa edges tend to be sharper.  Also much more expensive.  I'm happy with Preciosa because I have really good thread that is practically unbreakable.
• There is almost no use going for any other brands for high quality beads.  Some things you can get away with, but silver lining that washes out with a few normal laundry runs? No, no, no.  I do have a few Chinese beads.  They are hit and miss but a fraction of the price.  Furthermore, the unevenness of some cheap beads I've purchased are a total throw away; you wouldn't even bother trying to sort them to find the good ones.
• Now, dealing with bead suppliers.  Hmm.  Ok, the biggest companies are the ones that have been around multi generations.  That's because they have the time and energy to keep increasing their supply stock.  Has their customer service been helpful?  Yikes!  Wow, I could go on for stories there.  The only one that I could speak highly of is Shipwreck Beads in USA and The Design Cart in India.  The others... it's sort of like, just let me pay for the beads and get out of here. 
• Bead websites (not all) are like dinosaurs.  I think they can have so much supply that it's really hard to update the website.
• Buying beads in the exact shape/shade that you want is kind of a dilemma online.  It's just hard online.  Photos can really throw the colour off, with all that reflectivity and what not, when you want something exact and precise.  If you're more easy going, that's okay.  I guess this is an area I really want precision.  And I can't make glass beads at home.
• One way to selvage beads that are kind of not-nice is to take off the silver lining in them.  Sometimes this silver lining kills the beauty of the colour.  I've done this for several batches.  Basically, you bleach them (which turns the silver lining into grey).  Then you use a product like Napisan to break up the grey lining and clean the whole thing out.
• Beads, being made of glass, are also heavy.  They will add significant weight to the garment.  The Alabama Chanin tartan car coat I'm working on at the moment I think will use around 400 grams of gold beads (to be confirmed).
• That amazing colour that Alabama Chanin uses which is called satin grey bugle, is I believe from the solgel line of the Preciosa bugle chart.  #05151 from memory (to be confirmed).  Absolutely stunning, the way Alabama Chanin has rendered it in their garments.  Again, not everybody's aesthetic.  Someone else, when they first looked at it, said, "kind of dirty?" lol!  Oh dear.  Oh well - I like it.