Are these Real Swarovski Crystals ?

[sanny]

My wife bought some Beads and Pearls from a local shop ... the shop owner claimed he only sell genuine Swarovski Crystals ... but I had some reservations about them ... is anybody able to help and tell if these Beads and Pearls are genuine Swarovski parts ?

I have attached pictures of the goods in the picture album below ...

http://www.craftsforum.co.uk/album.php?albumid=417

The first 2 pictures showed the back and front of the Beads' packaging ... these are 6mm Jet colour 5000 beads ... the packaging is made of paper ... I did not see a '3D picture' on the bottom left of the front packaging and the word 'CRYSTALLIZED' at the back is slightly 'cut off' ...

Picture 3 ... I have crack open one of the Pearls ... it actually has a glass or crystal core and coated with 'Pearl' ...

Picture 4 ... a close up picture of the Pearls ... I notice some blurs, cause by the drilling of holes ... is it suppose to be like this ?

Picture 5 ... The pearls come in strings of 100 pieces ... the shop says they repack it in these smaller quantities to sell ... I would understand if the shop repack smaller quantities to sell ... but why would they bother to string up the pearls ?

Thanks in advance for your precious replies ...

[beadsbydesign]

I can see why you have reservations.
Swarovski pearls are glass with the coating. I've not come accross them being sold on the string before. What a time consuming process for the shop! (Swarovski pearls do not stick together on spraying with the coating and therefore around the hole there should be no marking from the next bead)
The packaging certainly looks authentic, however as you say the writing is not fully there.
What do the crystals actually look like. Are the edges sharp looking or softened?

[LauraT]

The pearls look a little bit shoddy from the close up picture and I have never noticed them looking like that when I have bought any. I would be wary.

I am not sure about the other beads,but I am sure someone will be along soon that can help with that.

[beckyboo]

crystallized is one of swarovskis newer ranges more info can be found here along with their logo which is slightly cut off

http://crystallized.swarovski.com/Po...id=10007.29073

saying that thou, I don't think the packaging is swarovski quality,****mers can and do copy anything. There is alot of swarovski copy beads on the market and it is very hard to tell the difference sometimes. I can't comment on the pearls as I have never bought them

[Peter]

Those 'pearls' are far too rough a finish to be Swaros - and I use them a lot! The best way to tell is to compare what you paid for them to an established Swaro dealer's price, if it's more than 10 - 15% different they're fake!

[mizgeorge]

I'd agree - the pearls don't look like the real thing to me. Harder to tell on the factory pack. What sort of quality are the crystals themselves? Do they have clean edges, are the holes nicely central, are there any chips?

Resellers are as likely as anyone else to be caught out by the ****mers - it really is worth buying from an authorised distributor to be sure.

[sanny]

What do the crystals actually look like. Are the edges sharp looking or softened?

The crystals do have sharp looking edges and looks shiny ... sorry, I have not been able to take some close up photos of the crystals yet ...

Those 'pearls' are far too rough a finish to be Swaros - and I use them a lot! The best way to tell is to compare what you paid for them to an established Swaro dealer's price, if it's more than 10 - 15% different they're fake!

The pearls 'looks' fine with a naked eye ... but on close up they look kind of errrrrr rough ... and I notice some of the glass/crystal core had scratches because it is showing up even with the pearl coating ... I have a slight local problem here, every shop here claims that they are selling genuine Swarovski parts ... my wife went to a few but notice that their prices can differ by as much as 200% !!! She is still trying to find an established Swarovski dealer here ...

I'd agree - the pearls don't look like the real thing to me. Harder to tell on the factory pack. What sort of quality are the crystals themselves? Do they have clean edges, are the holes nicely central, are there any chips?

Resellers are as likely as anyone else to be caught out by the ****mers - it really is worth buying from an authorised distributor to be sure.

Thanks ... the crystals do have clean edges and the holes nicely central with no chips ... so ... I believe they are either genuine Swarovski or high quality fakes ... lol ... still trying to look for an authorised local distributor ...


Thanks everyone again ... for your precious feedback and comments ...

[Delta]

You could always get in touch with Swarovski, send them your pics and tell them where you got them from, they should be able to tell you if they are a recognised dealer and of course they will be able to tell you if they are real Swaros.

[sanny]

You could always get in touch with Swarovski, send them your pics and tell them where you got them from, they should be able to tell you if they are a recognised dealer and of course they will be able to tell you if they are real Swaros.

This is a good idea ... thanks ...

A slight clearification ... the Pearls were bought from shop A and the Beads from shop B, i.e. different shops ...

Anyway ... today, I accompanied my wife back to the shop B for more Pearls and Beads ... this is my findings for this shop ...

i) They have a certification on display saying they are an authorised distributor of Swarovski ...

ii) They hold a large stock of the various Beads and Pearls in factory packs ... I saw this with my own eyes ...

iii) They are in business since 1925 and had been distributing Swarovski for more than 40 years ... they are the first Swarovski distributor in Singapore ... this is what they claimed ...

iv) They claim that they have access to check Swarovski's Austria inventory (some B2B internet stuff) ...

v) They also mentioned to me that I'm welcome to call up Swarovski directly to check if they are an authorise distributor ...

From these findings and observations ... I'm actually pretty much sold that shop B are selling genuine Swarovski ...

[beadsbydesign]

well that's some peace of mind for you.
Is beading a big thing in Singapore?

[sanny]

well that's some peace of mind for you.
Is beading a big thing in Singapore?

No ... beading is not a big thing in Singapore ... the market for such things locally is relatively small ... we are just a small country of 4 million ++ ... most of the locals got their beading and accessory supplies from China, Indonesia and Thailand ... it is a tough market here, you can buy these crafts practically in any shopping centre here for as low as USD 2 ... but, of course, do not expect Swarovski parts for USD 2 ...

[Bea]

I just pulled one of the packaging for the 4mm swaro I sell and your packaging does look genuine, you should see lots of watermarks as well on the paper (the crystallized logo). When you open the packaging there are also two lines of text on the edges: love at first light and elemental attraction. Are they there?

The beads are such poor quality that it's hard to believe they are swaro. It could be a bad batch but still, looks very odd to me.

You can always email swarovski and ask them if the company is a true distributor. Did you show the beads to the shop owner?

[sanny]

I just pulled one of the packaging for the 4mm swaro I sell and your packaging does look genuine, you should see lots of watermarks as well on the paper (the crystallized logo). When you open the packaging there are also two lines of text on the edges: love at first light and elemental attraction. Are they there?

Yes ... I could see the watermarks and text on the edges on those factory packs that I bought from shop B ...


I bought some Pearls from shop B over the weekend ... they came in factory packs of 5 strings of 100 each ... anybody has any experience with factory pack Pearls from Swarovski ? Do yours come in strings of 100 Pearls ?

[Pink and Dizzy]

Hi
I bought some pearls once and they came on the string in the factory pack.
Phoning Swarovski themselves might not help as not everyone that sells Swarovski gets the stock direct from them and may use a middle man. Swarovski have such strict rules and high order requirement per year that not everyone can buy straight from them!
Thanks
Helen xxx

[Peter]

Yes ... I could see the watermarks and text on the edges on those factory packs that I bought from shop B ...


I bought some Pearls from shop B over the weekend ... they came in factory packs of 5 strings of 100 each ... anybody has any experience with factory pack Pearls from Swarovski ? Do yours come in strings of 100 Pearls ?

Yes mine do, and I get mine from a European authorised dealer. The larger - 8mm + - ones come in strings of 50, and the smaller ones in strings of 100.