Swarovski® (Austrian) Crystal is considered to be the finest quality, full-lead crystal made today. It contains a minimum of 32%PbO, making the crystal optically very pure. The crystal is then faceted with tremendous precision, creating beautiful prisms. Brilliant colors and/or coatings are added to these crystals to create pendants, stones and beads of dazzling beauty with tremendous variety of shapes and sizes. The Swarovski® Company creates its glass with a special compound that imitators cannot duplicate. This special compound creates the incredible brilliance of their product. The delicate color palette is another quality that sets Swarovski® crystal components apart from others.
With so many crystal beads and components out there, how can you tell if the crystal you are purchasing is actually a Swarovski® crystal component....or an imitation? Here are some tips that can help you determine which crystals are genuine:
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Swarovski® crystals are perfectly uniform. Since they are machine cut, each crystal is the same. This means that the height, width and slope are consistent. A hand polished imitator bead will not have as uniform a cut. You may also notice different dimensions from bead to bead.
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Swarovski® uses machinery that precisely cuts each crystal. According to Swarovski®, "cutting hard materials such as crystal and gems, in such a way that they have a hundred identical facets in several directions, is a very complicated task; each direction of the reflected light must first be calculated by computer, then this has to be simulated in 3D, optimized and finally converted into control programs for complex machinery." This is just part of the technology that gives Swarovski® crystals their unbelievable flash.
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The precision cutting of Swarovski® machinery allows each crystal to have its facet juncture "pointing up". This means the facet junctures all meet at precisely the same point. This is a similar aspect of diamond faceting. See the illustration above.
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AB finish Swarovski® crystals have a uniform surface luster. There are no swirling marks from the vacuum process that produces the AB finish, and generally there are no scratches. The "imitations" often have scratches, swirl marks ("oily" looking surface). Some of these imperfections, in the "imposters", have to do with the lower quality of the finish. See the illustration above.
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When you look inside the crystal, you will see no bubbles. If you see any bubbles, you know immediately that it is a fake.
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Because of its special glass compounds, Swarovski® crystal will out-sparkle a bead of lesser quality when placed in a side-by-side comparison.
Swarovski® Crystal is unmatched in quality and distinction. Jewelry made with Swarovski® crystal beads looks elegant, yet is very affordable.
