Swarovski Crystals
Swarovski Crystals
The Beads with a Heavenly Sparkle
What makes Swarovski Crystals sparkle? What has changed with the parent company?
Swarovski Crystals: The Beads with a Heavenly Sparkle
They Glisten
Once, during a meal with my cousin in a dark restaurant, her Swarovski Crystal rosary bracelet caught the little bits of light and reflected it! These remarkable beads out-sparkle all other beads.
What Makes Them Sparkle?
Swarovski Crystals glisten and catch the eye in the stores as we walk past them. Although their lighting helps, it takes very little to make these beads throw off flashes of light.
Swarovski Crystals are Consistently Perfect
The Secret?
How can they glisten and sparkle so much? The secret is precision cutting. Computers calculate each direction of reflected light. Machines then cut the many facets so that they meet at perfect points.
Perfection
What I have always loved about working with them is that each bead is the same. They have a consistent size, shape, shade, and finish. I have never had to sort them because they are always identical.
Precision
They reach up to meet at perfect points. The many facets give them depths of colour. Swarovski Crystals draw your eyes down into the depths of seemingly unending angles, reflecting the light.
Smooth
I have worked with other crystals and noticed that they had slightly sharp edges and points. Swarovski Crystals are not like that. They are smooth to the touch.
The Quality of Swarovski Crystal Beads
Bubble-Free
I work a lot with fire-polished Czech glass beads. They often have bubbles inside or near the surface. The surface ones can create a hole in the bead. Swarovski Crystals have no bubbles.
The Finish
Regular glass beads have minor imperfections in the coatings. Crystals with an extra reflective coating, like an AB or shimmer finish, have a uniform luster. Swarovski Crystals have no swirls or noticeable scratches.
Precision Cutting Makes Them Glisten
You may wonder if lead content in the bead compound makes them sparkle. In 2012, they stopped putting lead in their beads. Yet, they still flash in the light as a result of the precision cuts.
The End of an Era
The Swarovski Company
Swarovski is a family-owned company founded in 1895. Their brand has become globally recognized for quality and beauty. They have sold crystals and finished jewellery in their high-end luxury stores.
Their Brand Image
Craft stores have also stocked their beads. As crafters made low-cost items with the beads, the Swarovski brand image began to suffer. Along with that, the global pandemic cut their sales by a third.
2021 Announcement
In 2021, they announced a major plan to restructure their company. They will now focus on products with their exclusive designs. You can CLICK read more in an article on their original announcement.
Quality Branding
Marilyn Munroe wore their jewellery in the 1953 musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Their brand had always been associated with only the best quality. However, for at least 20 years (until 2021), they sold to craft stores. That practice has now come to an end.
Copyright Issues
The Swarovski Crystal company has gone a step further. They have put copyright updates in place to discourage artisans from using their brand name (Swarovski) even if they use beads purchased before the copyright change.
What About Swarovski Crystal Rosaries?
Genuine Crystals
You can be sure of the quality of our rosaries. We have always purchased Swarovski Crystal beads from direct distributors. These suppliers bought them straight from the factory in Austria. Although we now refer to them as Austrian Crystals, they are authentic Swarovski Crystals.
Stocked Up
Although we had very little notice of this change, we bought beads while our suppliers still had a selection in stock. As a result, we will be able to provide rosaries made with Swarovski Crystal beads for as long as our supplies last. However, we will now refer to them as Austrian Crystal rosaries.
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CREDITS
The LOGO image of Our Lady of Grace is original artwork by Martin Lariviere in 2009. We have the artist’s permission (my son). It is our exclusive trademark logo image.
A beautifully photographed sky by Donald Tong inspired the website’s colour scheme. Cropped portions of it are the background for the footer Bible verse. He shared it as a free download on pexels.com.
Raphael painted The Sistine Madonna circa (1513-1514). We made circular cut-outs from the original image.
The Swarovski Crystal Swan is a shared image by Alexas Fotos on Pixabay.
Deborah K. Bates shared the Swarovski Crystal sign on Pixabay.
Marilyn Munroe wore Swarovski Crystal jewellery in the 1953 hit musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
The cracked background image for the Cracks in the Crystal Kingdom image was shared at Kind PNG.
Our information is from general knowledge, experience, and shared internet resources. We’d like you to use it as a starting point for your research to verify facts and build a reference list.
IN REVIEW
Swarovski Crystals are precision cut beads that glisten in very little light. They draw your eyes down into the depths of seemingly endless angles, reflecting the light. It is the precision cuts that make them sparkle. They have not contained lead since 2012.
In 2021, the Swarovski family announced a new direction for their company. Selling their extensive line of beads to crafters has now become a thing of the past.
We will be making Swarovski Crystal bead rosaries until their supply runs out. From now on, we will refer to them as Austrian Crystals.