Swarovski CRYSTALLIZED™ Pearls, Better than the real thing?

Sometime in December I received an email from Artbeads.com asking me if I would like to be a part of a group of jewelry designers who review their products and supplies and blog about the experience. I remember jumping out of my chair and running to tell my husband about it. Of course, I said yes, and today I write my first review.
December was Silver and Glass month at Artbeads.com. I chose some silver beads from their vast selection and for my glass beads I chose Swarovski CRYSTALLIZED™ 5810 Round Pearls. And this is what I created... and I am very pleased. This set is currently for sale in Sundancegems on Ruby Lane.

I received from Artbeads.com free of charge the Swarovski  CRYSTALLIZED™ 5810 Round Pearls in Light Grey and Coral colors in both 6 mm and 8 mm sizes. In addition, I also asked for and received 5mm Bali Silver Roundel Beads. All other sterling silver beads used in creating this necklace and earrings set I had purchased previously from Artbeads.com and were part of my ever-growing inventory of beads. As you can see I had quite a few of their sterling silver beads on hand, they have been and are my goto store for basic beads and supplies.

I had always wanted to check out the Swarovski CRYSTALLIZED™ 5810 Round Pearl Coral beads to see for myself just how close they came to the real thing. Though I carry real Coral beads in my inventory of finished jewelry and also have  some unused beads, I am becoming more and more vary of using real Coral. The reasons for this, I promise to discuss in a future posting.

The Swarovski CRYSTALLIZED™ 5810 Round Pearl Coral beads are like color enhanced pink Coral beads, and are a good substitute if one is sensitive about using real Coral. I think I will plan more pieces around this product.  I, then chose the Light Grey beads to complement my Coral beads, and I think the combination turned out great. According to Artbeads.com unlike synthetic glass pearls, CRYSTALLIZED™ - Swarovski Elements's crystal faux pearls have a leaded core that make them heavier (the finished product certainly does not feel or look like costume jewelry, this is me saying so!), and CRYSTALLIZED™ - Swarovski Elements's pearl coating is similar to a natural pearl lustre and is consistent in color. It is also resistant to perspiration, UV rays, perfumes, scratches and washing and warms to the skin like real pearls do.

The Bali silver roundel beads, that I also received with my Pearls are used to separate some of the light gray pearls in the necklace. They were great beads, uniform in size, quite thin and perfectly suited for highlighting and separating larger beads. 

The other sterlings silver beads used in this project were Sterling Silver Twist Link, Oval Trigger Clasp - 925 Silver, 060 Round Link Chain, 3 x 2 Crimp Tube, 4 mm Sterling Silver Crimp Cover and 24 gauge sterling silver Head Pins. The earrings were made with sterling silver round ear wire. As previously mentioned, all of these items were purchased from Artbeads.com.

As you can tell by now, I would certainly recommend these products I have described above. I did have one problem with my Swarovski  CRYSTALLIZED™ 5810 Round Pearl beads, it seemed that almost on every bead, on one side the beading hole was perfect, while on the other side of the bead the hole almost always had a tiny edge to it. I did not file it off, in case I took away some of the coating. I used the beads as is and they did not seem to effect the final outcome in anyway. I will try to clean them off as one would Venetian Glass beads, but since these holes are much smaller than those on Venetian glass beads, I do not think the same technique would work. If anyone has some thoughts on this, I would certainly like to hear about it. All in all it was a pleasant and satisfying experience.

Disclosure: I received the beads described above above free of charge from Artbeads.com. I have been asked to review these beads/supplies and give my honest opinion of them.  I am not being paid by Artbeads.com for my endorsement of any of the products received and reviewed in my blog postings.