Millegrain
Also called milgrain, millgrain, beaded edge
Millegrain is a decorative finish made of a row of tiny metal beads running along an edge of a piece. The name means a thousand grains, and the beads are rolled up from the metal itself with a small knurled wheel, giving antique and art deco designs their soft beaded outline.
In other words, a line of miniature metal dots along a rim or a band edge, cut into the metal rather than added on.
Where it appears
Millegrain runs along bezel rims, the outer edges of bands, and the borders of engraved panels. It softens a hard metal edge and it is the single detail that most reliably makes a modern piece read as vintage.
It pairs naturally with filigree and with engraving, because all three come from the same period of hand bench work.
Why it is easy to lose in a render
The beads are a fraction of a millimetre across. At web resolution they sit right at the edge of what an image can resolve, so a render either shows a crisp bead line or blurs it into a grey stripe, and the grey stripe throws away the reason the design exists.
Two things save it: enough resolution to hold the bead spacing, and lighting that puts a real highlight on the top of each bead with a shadow behind it. Beads with no shadow read as a printed texture rather than as metal.
The other risk is upstream. If the millegrain is a texture map in the CAD file rather than real geometry, it will look flat under any lighting. We check for that before rendering and flag it rather than shipping a soft edge.
Questions about Millegrain
Is it spelled millegrain or milgrain?
Both are used in the trade and mean the same thing. Millegrain is the older spelling.
Will millegrain show in a web-sized image?
Yes, if the render carries enough resolution and the beads are modelled as real geometry. The HD images we deliver hold the bead line at ecommerce zoom.