All About Swarovski Lead Crystal

There is nothing that rivals the spark and brilliance of real Swarovski crystal, not even diamond. Swarovski crystal sculptures, beads, and pendants are mesmerizing in sunlight and jewelry store light, the way they refract and dance colors on the walls and your hands. How do they do it? What makes Swarovski crystal so utterly beautiful in the store and against your skin?

Perhaps most startling about Swarovski is that these crystals aren't pure glass. They are instead lead crystal, 32% lead by weight. Lead, however, makes glass harder to crystalize, so other things are done during processing to encourage the molten lead-glass mixture to solidify in the right way. Swarovski's foundation is the 1891 invention by its founder, Daniel Swarovski, of an automatic cutting machine that could handle lead crystal without shattering it.

Swarovski crystals may also be coated with metallic chemicals on one, several, or all sides to maximize rainbow refraction. This is a new technique, but then, Swarovski has always been known for innovation.

History of Lead Crystal

Swarovski did not invent lead crystal. Instead, it was created in 1676, by an Englishman named George Ravenscroft. He'd learned glassmaking in Italy, where the masters added less lime, a strengthener, to glass to create crystallo, a markedly clearer glass than others manufactured at the time. But crystallo was already showing its weakness: glass disease, a condition where overly-low carbon content led to glass cracking and clouding over time.

Ravenscroft experimented with dozens of different methods, and finally hit upon adding lead, rather than lime, as the perfect solution for strong crystal-clear glass. At first lead crystal was only blown glass, but he soon found that allowing it to crystalize and then cutting it instead led to better results, and also showed off the true beauty of lead crystal.

For centuries, lead crystal has been used to make decanters and goblets for alcohol – you've seen those cut-crystal decanters in old movies. Don't do it yourself, though. The lead is harmless in your necklaces and bracelets, but when it's used to hold alcohol, lead leaches out of the glass and into your drink.

Cutting techniques for lead crystal glass have been refined over years, with Swarovski mastering the most advanced ones before anyone else. This makes older Swarovski sculptures surprisingly valuable. You can always identify real Swarovski by the logo cut into the bottom; it was an edelweiss flower until just recently, when the flower was traded in for a swan.

Janeo Jewels and Swarovski Crystal

Janeo only uses genuine Swarovski crystal, purchased from the source and then put together into beautiful works of art by our staff. We love this material, and so much is sold we can tell that you love it too. You'll see more selection in Swarovski crystal in the near future in our store, and you can also expect to see more transparent semiprecious stones as well.