All of the beads that I currently use in my jewelry and rosaries are vintage. The reason that I know this, for a fact, is because they have been in my possession for over 20 years; some longer. When they were purchased, they were purchased from those selling beads from years past. At some point, way into the future, I will have to purchase beads because I will eventually run out of my collection. Already, there are colors that have been popular and those beads are limited in my supply or completely gone. For that reason, I have been researching how to identify Swarovski beads and make sure that I am not purchasing copies, many made in China. Here are several things that I've learned along the way in my research of vintage beads, particularly Swarovski crystal beads.
There are three different cuts of vintage Swarovki beads in one of my bracelet designs.
Daniel Swarovski was born in 1862 in Northern Bohemia. He moved his business to Austria to use the beautiful streams as a resource for powering their company and to be in a remote area where their designs are kept secret. This is also where they continue their successful business with Swarovski's fourth and fifth generations in charge of their designs. Making beads and crystals is only a part of their business. They also design the tools that their creations are made upon, as well as, other tools.
The Aurora Borealis crystal effect was invented in 1956 in cooperation with Christian Dior. A special finish was given the name AB, taken from the phenomena in the northern skies known as the Northern Lights. AB, short for Aurora Borealis, is the abbreviation for a special finish which was applied to beads in the early 1950's to make them more radiant. Many of us, who were living at that time, remember our mom's wearing these beautiful beads.
Over thirty five years ago Swarovski switched their numbering process from 2 or 3 digits to 4 digits. Therefore; the article numbers with 2 or 3 digits are the oldest and are a little more expensive if you are purchasing them in the original boxes. Daniel Swarovski used numbers, rather than color names, to protect his products from being copied. He rarely sold his beads in strings unless it was for a particular designer. So, those beads, never used, would be packaged in boxes with product numbers.
If you compare a Swarovski bead with a copy, you should be able to pick it out for several reasons. The first reason is that the cut is perfect and uniform. Each bead in the number series have the exact match in color and cut. The points are exact. The second reason is that they are no bubbles or marks within the beads. Daniel Swarovski and his family make all beads within a color group to match and are without blemish. Keep in mind, that when these beads are recycled, they may have scratches on the surface, but never inside.
In my current jewelry, all of the beads have been taken from original designs from the 50s and 60s so these beads have been recycled. Eventually, I will be looking for vintage beads in the original boxes to make sure I am purchasing original Swarovski beads.
(All of these bracelets but one have been sold.) Can you pick out the Swarovski beads?
The beads, from left to right, are blue Swarovski bicone 6mm, Purple Fire Polished Czech beads 8mm, Swarovski bicone 6mm lilac beads, Swarovski bicone Pink 10mm, and Swarovski turquoise round 8mm. All beautiful! All vintage!
