Eyes What makes Glass Eyes stand to its name?

Glass eyes are literally made of glass, so they differ mainly in materials. Acrylic eyes are made of plastic/acrylic. Acrylic eyes usually have a round piece with a stem on the back you can break off to make them flat, but I've seen them come with no back as well, depending on the shop. In my experience, all the handmade eyes I've bought are made of clay or polyurethane, have flat backs, and are either circular or oval in shape.

If you browse the Styling and Crafting section on the Workshop part of the forum, you can click 'Eyes' at the top and see what a lot of other people have tried. I rely on that forum a lot when starting new projects

 

With glass eyes the whole eye is glass, not just part of it but all of it pupil, iris, sclera. It's all hard glass like a marble, but with a little stem off the back. I saw online some flat back one with the stem sanded off, but that was a long time ago and I have not seen glass ones like that since then.

 

Glass is the material, glass eyes are made of glass. As far as dome shape, stem or flat back, that all depends on the maker. I have a few glass eyes and all are flat back.

If you want to make eyes yourself resin eyes are the easiest way. Lots of tutorials on YouTube.

 

I was curious about your confusion so I checked Youtube - sure enough, people making tutorials for resin based eyes were calling them glass. I think they mean they are glass-like in appearance. The distinction is that true glass eyes are handmade from glass rods exposed to open flame to help shape them.

This also demonstrates why there is almost always a stem in the back of glass eyes.
They range in price and complexity, from less than $10USD to well above $100.

Resin mimics the depth of clarity of glass eyes and often have a mold for the base. The pupil is usually hand painted and can have beads and charms included under the clear dome layer.
Eyes made with polymer clay as the base can be made similar to resin eyes, or acrylic eyes in that the pupil can be hand painted and include beads and charms, or it can be flat paper which has been hand drawn or printed. These eyes usually use a liquid resin as the clear coating and dome.
Acrylic eyes are pre-made eyes with a removable dome and replaceable iris. You can buy them as DIY kits or modify premade ones by prying off the dome. The iris is usually flat paper and the dome is plastic though modders will also add a coat of resin to increase it's luster.

I hope I've been of some help!

 

Pretty impossible to tell without seeing a good clear picture of the whole eye (not in a doll or in foam). They say it's glass and they are hand made, but without seeing them it's just their word for it.

here are some pictures of actual glass eyes -

Flat back (these are oval, some are round)
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0164/3744/products/5035_each_2048x2048.jpg?v=1510156264

Round with stalk
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/lHcAAOSwnipWbiPZ/s-l400.jpg
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71TIJdH2kCL._AC_SL1024_.jpg

Teddy

 

I can tell that the latter are glass eyes, but I mostly know that due experience and having seen all kinds of eyes in real/I know this pair of eyes specifically (and similar ones from the same maker/line).
The first one actually surprises me. The iris is hand-painted, but the way it looks like (how glossy and seamless the base is) makes it look more urethane than acrylic. Or maybe the base is acrylic, but the dome is not.

But basically what was said already, glass is only the material. The shape can be everything from with stem/without stem, flat back, hollow or solid inside, low or high dome. It fully depends on how the artists makes them.
Generally most cheap glass eyes have very simple patterns. That means they are one solid color/two colors and have simple swirls or lines for patterns. More complicated/realistic patterns are usually easier to make when you can paint them (like for acrylic/urethane eyes) or print them. However, I aaaalso think you can add printed designs to glass eyes too? Some of those glass eyes have a very pixelated iris.
Since glass is a very smooth material it has a great shine and allows for light to reflect well of its surface. When there's a moderate dome at least and the iris is well blown, you can achieve nice depth as well.

If I had to say what's the difference between glass and urethane, or what is the definitive trait of each...that IS honestly hard to say. I have a lot of both here. When you touch them, glass feels harder, colder and smoother. The depth and details are better on the high-grade urethanes, but it's less because of the material and more because of the technique. People can sculpt an iris per hand, can easier paint realistic patterns with a brush than they can blow it with glass. It's just that a lot of the glass eyes available are not that great, and even the great ones can be a bit limited due to the technique used to make glass eyes.

If you want to make eyes, definitely go for the resin route though (or maybe start with acrylic bases and resin domes). Making glass at home is a bit of an overkill and difficult to get into.

Also, a short explanation on the different type of eyes, maybe it helps:

Spoiler

Types of Eyes
Eyes come in acrylic, glass, silicone and urethane/resin.
They all got their advantages and disadvantages.
Acrylic: - cheapest option
- the iris is designed digitally and then printed out OR painted by hand and glued into an eye base, afterwards an acrylic dome is clipped/glued onto the base; if the base is deep enough little crystals and co. can be added as well
- allows for a huuuge variety of possible iris options, if you can design/paint it it's possible
- unfortunately often doesn’t look very deep/print can be pixelated/the material just doesn't look very life-like

Glass: - cheap to moderately expensive, very popular and common
- glass is blown into shape, however, the detail/depth greatly depends on the time and skill the maker puts into it (most glass eyes are cheap ones from China)
- limited amount of designs, since it’s more difficult to blow something complicated vs. just drawing it on the computer and printing it out/drawing it by hand
- best option when urethane is too expensive, since good glass eyes can still give nice depth and can look very nice

Silicone: - cheap to moderately expensive, not very common anymore
- made out of silicone, with printed or hand painted iris
- they were very popular for dolls with odd eye-shapes/eye sockets back then, because the soft material allows for the eye to be pushed in deeply and follow the shape of the socket
- unfortunately looks very dull, since there is no dome on top that can reflect light, and attracts dust and dirt like crazy

Urethane/Resin: - moderately to very expensive ($100+), more common nowadays
- base and dome are made out of resin, the iris can be printed but is usually hand painted and sometimes sculpted prior painting as well; some people use acrylic bases and only make the dome out of resin, but that’s not common with the popular eye makers
- allows for a huge variety, and even things like shimmer, little gem stones, dried flowers and co. can be easily included
- great depth and shine
- since they are made of resin they can yellow or get scratched easily

Doll companies usually sell mass-produced glass or acrylic eyes they get from wholesalers. Silicone is like said not very common anymore, Safrin was a maker but doesn’t exist any longer.
Urethane got more popular with time because people found ways to make them more affordable/easier at home. There are a lot of makers for them by now on Etsy. Enchanted, Mystic and Mako are companies that made them for years.

 

There's a lot of keyword spamming on Etsy and eBay, and unfortunately, that can lead to a lot of confusion about what you're actually buying. I'm a seasoned hobbyist, and I still struggle sometimes to see exactly what they're selling. Just yesterday I found a really cute outfit labeled for "BJD SD Minifee", which was really disappointing because it turned out to, in fact, be for Minifee and not something my 1/3 girls could wear. I actually make a point not to buy from people who keyword spam just for more views.

As others have stated, true glass eyes are made entirely of glass. They can be round, oval, high dome, low dome, flat back, round back or with little handles/sticks on the back. One of my favorite glass eye makers is Captured in Glass, and they will even do custom eyes for you with your choice of dome and back. Their eyes aren't highly detailed, but they're really nice for their prices.

There's another thing called "soft glass" by Eyeco, they're basically silicone.

 

Can't you report them to Etsy?

Teddy

 

I'm not sure, I'll have to look into that, it would definitely be a good thing.

 

I also recommend Captured in Glass for glass eyes. They’re quite cheap and have very nice colors and sizes. Urethane eyes are usually the most detailed from experience, and I’ve never really liked acrylic eyes, to me they’re the least realistic.