Genuine Vs Fake Swarovski Elements
July 7th, 2008 in Know-How | 10 Comments
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As i mentioned in the earlier post, Icy and I was cheated by the shop 3 years ago. I need to make a correction here, it’s not exactly 3 year but 2 years 5 months! Bead shops in Malaysia.
Back to year 2005, the 4mm Swarovski Bicone Color was sold at RM26.00 for 1 gross (144 pcs), i.e: 18 cents per pcs. By the time we discovered this shop, it was few months after we started to learn beading. We were so excited because their “swarovski” bicone cost only RM14.50 for 100 pcs, i.e: 14.5 cents per pcs. That is a great difference! But then hoh….that was when our nightmare began…… 
Below are 2 boxes of fake 4mm swarovski bicone that we still keep until today.
Well, how to distinguish the Genuine and Fake Swarovski Elements? To be fair, let me take a photo of a genuine and fake 4mm swarovski bicone side by side under the same lighting condition. Normal point and shoot digical camera might not be able to perform a good job, therefore i borrowed a better quality camera and a Macro lens especially used to snap tiny object. Here is the gadget shown:
Alright, let’s begin our experiment!
DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU LEFT OR RIGHT BICONE IS GENUINE? I don’t think so 
Thanks to the great Tamron SP90 1:1 Macro Lens!
Steve’s Methods to inspect your Swarovski Beads:
(1) Buy few packets of Swarovski Beads from Beading.com.my as samples, you can be rest assured that you will get genuine Swarovski Beads.
(2) Place your suspected fake and Genuine Beads of same color side by side, in a group of at least 20 pcs each. Are their color same?
(3) Examine those beads from different angle, are their sparkling apperance similar?
(4) On closer look of the fake Swarovski beads, they are dull and does not capture the light very well. This is mainly cause by the reason that there are tiny bubles inside the fake beads.
(5) Examine closely on the opening edges of the beads as shown in the picture below. Genuine beads has thicker, more lustre and shinning opening edges as compare to the fake one.
(6) Fake swarovski beads has limited colors (about 40-50 colors) while Swarovski has up to 75 normal colors. You might not be able to get Fireopal for fake one!
(7) This point may only be determined by experts with proper equitment, which i don’t have. Swarovski are precision – cut lead crystals that are created through an innovative patented technology by Swarovski® A.G. While normal crystal glass contain only 12-28 % lead oxide to increase light refraction, Swarovski contains approximately 32% lead oxide. This increased lead content refracts light more efficiently, hence adding more lustre and sparkle to each crystal bead. The lead content also increases the weight of the crystal as compared to normal glass.
(8) Finally, check the seller’s receipt. If you have noticed, the seller didn’t write down the exact name like 4mm Swarovski Bicone / Swarovski in the receipt! What he wrote was 4mm only!!! Is this a tricks to escape from a legal proceeding?
Alright, hope the above tips would help you to distinguish genuine and fake Swarovski Beads. However, please bear in mind, Swarovski beads are not created by God, therefore ocasionally we might get some defect beads like the following in an original pack. It shouldn’t be more than 1% normally.
Images (left to right): Wrongly drilled hole and no hole at all
Thank you for your article. I purchased some 4mm Fire Opal bicones from ebay and when I received them it was very noticeable that some were darker in colour than others. The colour consistency wasn’t 100%. I’ve purchased beads that have looked very dull and don’t “sparkle” like genuine Swarovski crystals. After comparing real and fakes ones I’ve noticed subtle differences. All I can say is that I’ve purchased fake beads and I won’t be purchasing from those sources again!
Great article! Really glad to find good sources of information. I am newbie in this kind of stuff and this really save my time and money:p
Keep up the good work~~\(^0^)/~~
Indeed a useful article. Thank you for posting this up. It just increases our confidence in beading.com.my.
Question: What happens is we DO find one or two defect Swarovski bead in the pack we buy from beading.com.my?
You may ask for replacement in your next order, no worry please!
We are pretty confident with Swarovski’s QC.
[...] One of our most frequent received question is: Are you selling “Genuine” Swarovski Beads? In future, we can easily tell our customers how to differentiate Swarovski from the “Others”, without having to use a zoom lens or magnifier. You might be interested with Genuine Vs Fake Swarovski Beads. [...]
Hi, this is a great article! I had tried your method but using normal camera with flash and macro and found that the seller sold me a mixture of fake and genuine swarovski bicones, and of cause with the fake ones dominating the genuine ones.. Thanks for the info!
Btw, I would like to know whether there would be any guide to differentiate the swarovski flatback rhinestones with the “others”?
You can actually differentiate 5301 with your naked eye, without having to use the lens.
Nope, I didn’t really bother about flat back as they are not consider very popular items. Not sure if there is any unauthentic seller trying to use “others” to claim as Swarovski’s Rhinestones.
Great article, this is why I have avoided buying Svarovski locally if possible since I learnt how to identify the fakes myself. I know that the fakes are sometimes made of acrylic and most of them do not shine in the light the way real Svarovski crystals should.
Also, I have found something called China Crystal/Celestial crystal. It’s still pretty to look at but lacking the high shine of Svarovski, some online retailers call it the economical Svarovski.
Hi Steve,
I understand from a friend that a genuine Swarovski Bead has a Swarovski logo in it. She was being informed by the sales person from a Swarovski shop. Is this true? If it’s true where can I find the said logo in a Swarovski Bead because I failed to find it with a magnifying glass in the beads from Beading.com.my. Please guide.
@YC: There is No logo on Crystallized Swarovski Elements, example: Bicone (5301), Round (5000), Heart (6202)…and other loose beads.
Swan logo is used in Swarovski Crystal Division.
Strass logo is used in Swarovski Lighting & Interior Design Division.
Hope this help to clear your doubt.