It's
easy to recognize
Beaded Jewelry
that “looks good.” But most people are
simply too unfamiliar to really evaluate the
Jewelry's quality or compare the quality between
designs offered on different websites.
This short Buyer’s Guide provides a
brief overview of the variety of components used to identifies the
best materials you should look for to insure the Quality
of any
Beaded Jewelry design.
Stringing Materials
All
Beaded Jewelry starts with the stringing
material. The stringing material is critically
important because it dictates the resulting feel and
endurance of the jewelry. Unfortunately, an almost
endless variety of materials are often used by
manufacturers, from fishing line to picture hanging
wire. Such materials are readily available but are
notoriously unreliable for
Beaded Jewelry as they
will stretch, rust, and become brittle over time. To
ensure quality, always insist on a premium, jewelry
grade stringing material such as Soft Flex®
Wire, made of hypoallergenic nylon coated, braided
stainless steel micro-wires which provide excellent
strength to resist breakage as well as excellent
flexibility.
All
Beaded Jewelry offered by Strands of the Heart starts with quality Soft Flex®
Wire.
Metal Components
By far the most preferred metal components used
in
Beaded Jewelry are made of Silver. However, you
always want to verify the metal components are not
lower quality materials with Silver-plating. These
components easily chip and scratch. Instead, always
insist on components made of solid Sterling Silver.
Often called 925 Sliver, genuine Sterling Silver is
a very durable alloy made of 92.5% Silver and 7.5%
Copper and offers excellent strength and durability.
Strands of the Heart uses genuine Sterling Silver
components for all Letter Beads, Round Beads,
Charms, Lobster and Toggle Clasps, and Crimp Beads.
Crystal Beads
There is a wide variety of Crystal Beads used to
make
Beaded Jewelry. Crystals Beads are manufactured
all over the world and vary widely in quality
characteristics such as clarity, uniformity, defects
and scratch resistance. This makes quality
assessment very difficult. The most highly regarded
Crystal Beads are manufactured in Austria by
Swarovski, the leading manufacturer of quality
crystals.
Strands of the Heart uses only genuine Swarovski
Crystal Beads.
Crystal Pearls
Synthetic pearls used in
Beaded Jewelry are very
often made of glass. Crystal Pearls, on the other
hand, have a leaded crystal core which adds weight,
very similar to that of real pearls. As the premiere
manufacturer of quality crystal, Swarovski is also
the leading maker of Crystal Pearls. Each Swarovski
Pearl is finished with a durable coating very
similar to a natural pearl luster and resistant to
scratches, perspiration, perfumes, and UV sunlight.
Strands of the Heart uses only genuine Swarovski
Crystal Pearls.
Glass Beads
Fiber Optic Glass Beads, or Cat's Eye Beads, are
commonly used to add color and variety to all types
of Beaded Jewelry. Glass Beads have a quality level
rating in terms of hardness and finish. Grade A
certified Glass Beads provide the best long- term
value for
Beaded Jewelry. Strands of the Heart uses
only Grade A Glass Beads.
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I hope this short guide has been informative and
has explained the materials to look for when
shopping for
Quality Beaded Jewelry. I sincerely
encourage you to shop around and carefully compare
the quality of the jewelry featured on other sites
with that of Strands of the Heart.
Sincerely,
Lisa Reynolds
