Swarovski vs. Preciosa

I have a wholesaler for Preciosa, but I only have a few selected ones.

Swarovski crystals are made by Swarovski, in Austria. Preciosa crystals are made in the Czech Republic. I'd think Preciosa is Swarovski's main competitor and the other way 'round, but I don't think their market is quite the same.

And there are no 2AB Preciosa crystals that I have found (I have a customer who insists on 2AB).

Not a whole lot, but HTH.

Aloha, Maren HiloBeads: Beads - Beading Supplies - Hand-made Jewelry

Do they make a big price difference for you?

Preciosa is quite a bit less expensive, but for the time being I'll stick with Swarovski.

Maren HiloBeads: Beads - Beading Supplies - Hand-made Jewelry

The thing to remember about Swarovski, from Austria, is that they have a long history of making optical glass -- gun sights, binoculars, huge telescopes, etc -- so they are not just makers of pretty beads. And this history is evident in the way their glass (leaded crystal) is ground, and also is the quality of light and color in their crystals.

Especially I like their "googy" colors (Old childhood word for, unsurprisingly, colors that are not bright and clear. You know, like "googy green" would be olive). Anyway, their "satins" are greyed, yet still have brilliance, and are perfect with boro.

I have Preciosas, from Czech, too, and they are similar in quality in that you don't get poorly cut ones or strange color lots and they have nice clear colors. But they don't have nearly as many colors. They have sapphire and fuchsia, eg, but not the more interesting colors like Indicolite or light Olivine.

I especially like is a milky AB (can't remember what it's called), that has more substance than the clear, which can kind of look like an empty spot in the jewelry. I like the Satin Light Colorado Topaz the best. It is great against the skin. Warm with "antiqued" silver. Way on the grey side of brown/topaz, though, for those of us who don't do brown or amber colors well. And again it has enough color not to look like an empty spot in a necklace.

So I get the Preciosa in the more common colors because it costs less, but usually I get Swarovski because I like the colors better.

Tina

Hi Tina...

I love the latter two and have more of them than anything else. Also love the Light Colorado Topaz and find that the Light Smoked Topaz is quite close to Copper Crystal. My daughter and I make a lot of copper jewellery. I have an eBay person here in Toronto that I get them from at a really good price at times. She accidentally sent me the Smoked one and we really like it.

The one below could be the White Opal or White Alabaster, but probably the first one. Just got in some Pacific Opal and it is gorgeous. Pale semi-opaque light green.

Cheers....Heather

Shipwreck Beads has a good sampling of Preciosa crystals in various styles. Prices are reasonable, if a bit all over the place. Their pricing reflects the rapid decline in the dollar v. euro over the past few months. Colors they've recently begun to carry or just restocked are noticeably more expensive. The same applies to their prices on Swarovski. Preciosa is less expensive but not necessarily lower quality. A good portion of what you pay for Swarovski beads goes for the name not the quality of the crystals themselves.

HTH!

Yeah, I thought they were called White Opal, but I think I found something almost the same under another name too, and was afraid the While Opal was discontinued.

Did you say something about the "first humid day in Toronto"? I remember being in Toronto just as winter was coming on, and how the cold and wind cut right into me. We were being helped by the Toronto Anti-Draft Programme. My daughter was born in Kitchener.

I live in Alaska now, but have wonderful appreciation for Canada and usually celebrate Thanksgiving both in October and November.

Tina

We have had a LONG cold snowy Winter, but you would know about those what with living in Alaska. It was almost record-breaking. I believe about two more centimetres of snow and we would have beaten a 100 year old record. We are now humid and hot again thanks to Lake Ontario. That is why you froze when you were here. Kitchener isn't quite as close to the lake.

So you were here in the early 70's I assume. We had friends that transferred here from the US for the same reasons. I live outside Toronto in Brampton, northwest of the airport. It would have been a fairly small town then. But up to half a million people now.

That is so nice to hear and I much prefer having Thanksgiving around Oct. 12th. The US one is so close to Christmas that it takes the fun out of roasting a turkey a second time, lol.

Cheers....Heather

Late 60s actually. Susie was born in '69. Most of our time in Canada we lived in Alberta and YT. Part of the reason I moved to Alaska was because I loved the Yukon so much. Our winter this year was very cold with about 3 weeks near -50 F, and Spring arrived very late. We had pussy willows in late April. But "Summer", leaves coming out, was earlier than usual. One of these days I will again enjoy a warm dark night. Here if it's dark, it's no longer summer/warm. Lots of light now. If it's not overcast, (this is the only location I've been in where the forecast calls for "sunny skies tonight"), I can read on the couch, with my back to the window, all night without turning on the light.

I also like having Thanksgiving at harvest time instead of in November.

Tina