Crystals are a popular component of jewelry. They add sparkle and glitter and make what may be an otherwise ordinary piece of jewelry into something glamorous and expensive looking. There are many types or brands of crystal, and each has its own property or look.
What exactly is crystal?
Natural crystals such as quartz form naturally in the ground under specific conditions. Ice is also considered a “crystal” as is salt. Even snowflakes are considered crystals, and of course, diamonds. There are many types of crystals, but they all have one thing in common, their atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in patterns. What type of crystal forms is dependant on the chemistry of the fluid and the surrounding conditions such as temperature and pressure. Even the rate at which the fluid cools can have an affect.
The science of crystals or “crystallography” can be a complicated and interesting study. I will keep this article leaning towards simpler concepts of crystals and how they affect jewelry. While the term “crystal” can have very specific meaning in the world of science, most people, when you refer to crystal, think of a solid object that has well defined shapes or facets.
One property of crystals is the ability to refract, or bend, light passing through it. This causes the different colors in the light to show, referred to as a spectrum. This is one of the qualities highly desired in jewelry featuring crystals. The better the refraction, the more expensive the crystal and therefore the jewelry.
While many of the crystals used in jewelry are naturally forming, referred to as precious or semi-precious stones or gems, many of the crystals used in jewelry, such as Swarovski Crystals, are manmade. These man-made crystals are, believe it or not, actually glass. So why are they referred to as crystals?
Just what is the difference between “glass” and “crystal”?
Depending on what area of the world you are in, the terms glass and crystal can have slightly different meanings between countries. It depends on the amount of lead in the glass that determines if it is referred to as glass or crystal and each country has their own set of standards. The United States has the lowest standards (lowest amount) for glass to be considered crystal according to lead content, only 1% lead. In European countries the glass must have at least 4% to be considered crystal.
Man-made crystal is glass that has had lead added to it. The presence of lead in the glass gives it a heavier feel as well as improves the light refraction. The more lead, the better the refraction and more dazzling the color display. And the higher the price.
Swarovski crystal is considered one of the highest quality crystals available today. Swarovski crystals are precisely cut so that all the facets are uniform around the whole crystal. You will not see any imperfections inside of a Swarovski crystal such as bubbles, swirls, or other faults. Swarovski crystal is also very high in lead, up to 30% or more.
I have used other brands of crystals in some of my jewelry pieces. I sometimes choose to use crystals other than Swarovski to try and keep the price down. While there are some crystal brands that cannot compare to Swarovski, I have located 2 sources that have crystals with beautiful clarity and a nice prism effect as well. And at a third of the cost, I use them quite frequently. The added benefit to the beads I use is the fact they are lead free yet as sparkly as you would like to see in a piece of fine jewelry.
With all that lead in the Swarovski crystals, is it even safe to wear jewelry made from them? What about lead poisoning?
It is generally believed that simply handling lead crystal beads is not harmful. The lead in a crystal is not easily extracted, so is safe to handle. However, I would certainly keep them out of my mouth, and away from children and pets. The state of California, which has some of the strictest guidelines in the nation, allows the use of lead crystal beads in ADULT jewelry.
So wear your crystal jewelry with pride and confidence. And to ease your doubts perhaps stick to lead free crystal jewelry like the ones found here on this site. (click here) I will always mention if Swarovski crystals are used, otherwise, high quality lead free crystals are used in my jewelry.
