Crystal Glass Beads: Swarovski and Beyond
The mystery of glass, crystal and stone still tends to allude us at times. What exactly is crystal and why is it so different than regular glass beads? What about rock crystal… is that glass? Lets find out.
 
Glass beads
Think of sugar cookie dough that can be easily transformed into another type of cookie by adding chocolate, toffee or anything else.  By changing the recipe, you change up the flavor. With glass, the same thing exists. There are different glass recipes that are used to make different kinds of beads. Various countries around the world nurture their recipes that have been handed down for centuries. By changing a few ingredients in the glass, you can come up with different colors, transparencies and hardness. Since glass beads have been made for thousands of years, you can imagine how often these recipes have been tweaked, twisted and tainted. 
 
Vintage glass beads
If you haven’t noticed, the colors of vintage glass beads are often different than the ones produced today. Back in the day, glass bead makers used different recipes to achieve everything from vibrant hues to soft transparencies. Today many of these practices have been abandoned due to expense, availability and even health reasons. Those same recipes have been changed to allow them to be more cost effective and safer. Its unlikely that those recipes will be revived, and so an entire color pallet is extinct! But modern technology gives us the opportunity to achieve new colors. For those who love the old ones, we get melancholy in their presence! The soft pastel transparent colors are not quite the same as the ones made long ago. And ivory, navy and brown is not quite as lovely today as it was back then. One more reason why we love vintage!
 
Crystal beads
Crystal makes our hearts flutter! The first use of lead crystal goes back to 1676 when an Englishman named George Ravenscroft combined lead oxide to regular glass and so our crazed passion with crystal began. This lead and glass recipe creates a higher index of refraction and makes the glass very hard. When its faceted, the edges of the crystal stay sharp... hence all that glitter! 
 
Swarovski vs. Chinese or German crystal
Crystal is crystal, right? Wrong. Lets start with the best: Swarovski. It has the highest lead content of any other crystal, making it more crisp, sharp, brilliant in color and has the greatest longevity. Other types of crystals made in other countries have a lower lead content and therefore are (dare I use this word?) a tad on the inferior side. (Gasp!) Well, Swarovski is the Rolls Royce of crystal, and other crystals are sort of like a Pinto. Ok, maybe not a pinto, but they sure can’t compete with the Rolls. Lets just say that the Swarovski that’s made today will still look pristine in 60 to 100 years. The other beads don’t have as good of a chance to hold onto the beauty of their youth due to softer glass allowing the crisp edges to soften and round out over time and use.
 
Beads and the law
The law requires that in order for glass to be considered lead crystal it must contain at least 24% lead oxide. Swarovski has it beat by a long shot with 32% lead which is added in the molten stages of glass making for the most clarity and light refraction. You can tell that I prefer Swarovski to any other bead out there, but I’m not saying that the other crystals made today aren’t worthy or beautiful. They’re very beautiful and fit into people’s budget much easier. You can get a bag full for a percentage of the cost of Swarovski. To each his own desires, I suppose! 
 
So… what is the OTHER crystal?
Well, there’s plenty. Many countries make crystal. Bohemian (was Bohemia, now is Austria) crystal has been made for a long time and is gorgeous. The French have been making crystal since 1863. Many countries have dabbled in the crystal genre. But none as successfully as Swarovski. They’re the masters.
 
Rock crystal
Rock crystal, or quartz crystal is stone rather than glass. Quartz is the second most common mineral found in the Earth’s crust, right behind Feldspar. Its mined world wide and has many different personalities, so to speak. My favorite is the crystalline form which is cut and shaped into the beads we love today. Rock crystal comes in a plethora of colors, and the clear version is so pristine that your eyes won’t get over its vibrancy! Just beautiful.
 
     Glamorous, glittery and gorgeous: crystal is hard to resist. Indulge yourself and make a sparklie pair of earrings for yourself today! It will brighten up your whole summer!