Frequently Asked Questions about our Products and Services

About our Products

What's the difference between between rhinestones and diamantés?
None at all.  Rhinestones, diamantés, crystals, christals, stones, bling, chatons, chaton roses, flatbacks, swarovskis, swartzkofskis and jets are all names we've heard used to describe rhinestones.  The technically correct name for a pointed back stone is a 'chaton' and a flatback stone is a 'chaton rose'.

What's the difference between Preciosa and Swarovski Rhinestones?
These days very little.  For many years Swarovski stones were far superior to Preciosa’s but as technology improved, the differences became almost indistinguishable and Preciosa’s pricing structure made their brand extremely competitive.  It's said that Swarovski tried to counteract this competition by introducing a 12 facetted stone but within months Preciosa had done the same.  Then in 2004 Swarovski launched the 14 facet Xilion cut calling it “the new generation of brilliance” and the extra sparkle from 14 facets was undeniable. However, at a distance the extra sparkle of the Xilion cut seems to override the actual colour flash of the stone so although there's lots of sparkle, there's not much colour going on.
The latest innovation from Preciosa is the Viva12 rhinestone. They say they've modified the cut of the original 12 facets to enhance the sparkle and they've optically purified the crystal for extra brilliance.  In our opinion the Viva12 stones not only appear to now be the most sparkly on the market but they also retain that important colour flash up close AS WELL AS at a distance.  Watch this space… 

What does "AB" mean after a colour name?
AB stands for Aurora Borealis which is the scientific name for the Northern Lights.  It's also sometimes called Aurore Boreale.
AB is a light coating applied to the surface of a rhinestone or bead by a vacuum process.  It was invented in 1955 by Swarovski in collaboration with Christian Dior and produces a beautiful rainbow coloured sparkle. It's most effective on the colour Crystal but also imparts a lovely dimension to all other colours.  On darker colours, such as black or dark blues, reds and greens, the AB coating appears more blue green.  On lighter colours the look is more peachy blue and the colour of the rhinestone or bead under the coating is more apparent.  The effect can also vary from batch to batch, occasionally more orange/gold, occasionally extremely blue. 

How many rhinestones will I need?
Probably more than you think.  The most common reason we hear for repeat orders is that the original amount was under estimated.  As a guide, in a 10 cm  x 10 cm square place stones or a suitable substitute in the pattern or design you want to create and count the number of stones used.  Then multiply that number by the approximate number of 10 cm squares needed to cover the entire area you want to decorate. It’s not foolproof but we haven't yet come up with a more reliable method.  If in doubt always buy more.  Extras will always be handy for jewellery, fingernails or repairs.  No application method is perfect and you can always expect to shed some stones over time, so having extras on hand is sometimes useful.

What is the most popular size?
Usually ss16 and ss20 for costumes, stage and clothing.  However, we've noticed an increased trend in the use of smaller stones such as ss10 and ss12 in combination with larger stones, such as ss30 and ss34.  For craft, especially for use with hotfix tools, the trend is for smaller stones, such as ss10's.  The diversity of use of rhinestones now dictates that a much larger range of sizes be available, so we stock from an ss6 through to an ss40, with even larger stones suitable for sew-on also available.

Why does the colour of some stones change with the angle you look at them from?
Some colours, such as Heliotrope, Vitrail Medium and Bermuda Blue for example are commonly referred to as 'effects' colours as you are able to see one colour one way, and another colour when you look from a different angle.  The vacuum coating on Effects stones is applied to the stone between the foiled backing and the crystal itself.  This is different from the coating applied to the top surface of a rhinestone, such as in the case of Crystal AB, Golden Shadow, Hematite for example. 
The effect of the 'effects' is different on a bead or bicone from that which you would see on a flatbacked item however, as beads in reality have no back or front, bottom or top.  So depending on the angle the bead is sitting, you will either see the back of the coating (a metallic look), or the effect through the uncoated part of the crystal.

What is the difference between a half coating and a full coating?
This term applies to many coatings, but most the popular one is the AB coating.  A half coating is referred to as 'AB'.  This is where half of the object is coated, leaving the other half to show purely the original colour of the crystal bead underneath.  A full coating is referred to as 'AB2x'.  This is where the coating is applied all over the object, thus giving an all over AB effect with the base crystal colour coming through in a more muted colour.

What is full lead crystal?
Full lead crystal is the finest man-made crystal because it's high lead oxide content serves to enhance its colour spectrum.  The production of full lead crystal begins by combining proportionate amounts of quartz sand, soad, potash and lead oxide, which are subjected to extremely high heat until molten.  Crystal is not considered 'full lead crystal' until the lead oxide content goes above 30%.

So if it contains "lead" is it dangerous?
No, as the lead cannot 'come out' of the crystal.

Why all the names 'Crystallized Swarovski Elements', 'Spectra', 'Strass', 'Viva12' and 'Xilion'!  I'm confused!?
These are all registered brand names for different lead crystal product ranges produced by the companies we deal with. 

How do I know your products are genuine?
These days most Preciosa and Swarovski products come from their factories in sealed packets so if you buy a factory packing quantity, chances are it will come to you as an original sealed unit. If you're purchasing less than a factory unit then obviously we have to break the seal to open the packet and once this is done there is no way we can 'prove' to you that our products are genuine. However we are highly regarded suppliers who have an extremely high reputation to uphold and it would be rather silly of us to try and pass off other products as genuine Swarovski or genuine Preciosa if they weren't. 

I could include some wrappers, we throw out dozens every week, but please be aware that opened packaging alone does not provide proof of authenticity, nor will it provide proof to your clients.  It's simply packaging.  Also, the silver holographic logo which was used to seal the old silver Swarovski packaging, was phased out in their most recent Cream packaging release.  The swan logo still exists but in a tiny 3mm size picture, no silver type logo or 'sticker' look like it used to have.  You could contact Swarovski yourself and check that this is fact.

Providing a form of certification for loose components is not possible; even Swarovski and Preciosa themselves do not provide this to any stockists worldwide.  I guess it would be impratical for them to provide this for every single component produced when you think about all the secondary stockists such as all the bead shops that we sell to.  And then what about the bead shops that sell to onsellers who sell to onsellers?

More recently, Swarovski started producting Xilion facetted beads and have patented the design to stop other manufacturers copying the cut and passing it off as Swarovski.

The best way you can guarantee you are buying a genuine product is to buy through a reputable seller.

I'm not sure what colour I need. Do you send out samples?
Individual photos of products on our site give a good indication however browser colours are not always acurate.  If perfect colour matching is important we have both rhinestone cards and bead sample boards available.

About our Services

Do you have a shop, can I pick up?
We are an internet / web based business and have no showroom where you can view products or uplift purchases sorry.

Do you have a printed price list?
We've tried to in the past but constant new additions and price changes make it impractical. We hope to have a downloadable price list in PDF format available through this site in the future. Good things take time.

I can't get through to the checkout - what am I doing wrong?
Absolutely nothing - Perhaps you're on a network that doesn't allow access for security reasons, or if you're on a PC then it's probably just the version of IE you're running.
Our website has been designed using the very latest technology and unfortunately this does not support some older versions of IE, specially if you haven't installed all the subsequent IE patches provided by Microsoft. A way around this is to install Firefox as your preferred browser.

Have you found the answer to the question you had?
If not, we'd love to help you personally with any questions you may have. Please don't hesitate to phone or email your questions through to our helpful team. Contact details are here. We look forward to possibly even adding your question on this page.