Swarovski Beads and Stones – a Guide to Colours and Effects

Swarovski Beads and Stones - a Guide to Colours and Effects

Swarovski has such a huge and varied range of crystals that we created a brief guide to the colours and effects of Swarovski beads and stones to help you find your way round the most popular options.

We have followed Swarovski and presented the guide in the same order as they present the colour options.

If you’d like to look at some examples on our website, the Swarovski bicones are one of the best selling beads and have an enormous range of colours

A GUIDE TO THE COLOURS AND EFFECTS OF SWAROVSKI BEADS AND STONES

Swarovski beads and stones come in an amazing array of colours

A Guide to the Colours and Effects of Swarovski Beads and Stones
Swarovski Colours and Effects

While this creates a fantastic choice, it can be difficult to understand the differences between some of the colours and effects of Swarovski beads and stones and decide which is the best one for you!

Crystal
Crystal
Crystal AB
Crystal AB
Crystal AB 2x
Crystal AB 2x
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Crystal Shimmer

Jet
Jet
Jet AB
Jet AB
Jet AB 2x
Jet AB 2x

The examples below will give you some idea of the options available and how they can vary.

CRYSTAL

Plain crystal is the best-selling “colour”.

It is also the base for many of the fancier effects, of which more shortly.

COLOURS

Plain Colours

These are some of the most popular colour choices and there are 60 plain colours alone available in the very popular Swarovski bicones.  A plain colour simply means that the bead or stone is made from coloured crystal with no other effects or coatings.

5328_502_UF_10_FV_PLx4[1]
Fuchsia
Jet
Jet

5328_LightSiam227x3[1]
Light Siam
5328_Sapphire206x3[1]
Sapphire

Opal Colours

The opal colours have a lovely semi-translucent effect

5328_WhiteOpal234x3[1]
White Opal
Air Blue Opal
Air Blue Opal
Pacific Opal
Pacific Opal

 

CRYSTAL EFFECTS

This is where a coating or other “effect” is applied on a crystal base

Crystal Transparent Effects

A transparent effect creates a delicate coating on the crystal base.  A very popular example is crystal AB. It also includes beautiful effects such as astral pink, vitrail medium and paradise shine.

Crystal AB
Crystal AB
Vitrail Medium
Vitrail Medium
Paradise Shine
Paradise Shine
Astral Pink
Astral Pink

Crystal Metallic Effects

A metallic coating creates a solid effect.

Metallic effects may be half coated.  This means that one half of the bicone is coated as shown in the bicone examples below.

Crystal iridescent green
Crystal iridescent green
Main Launch Innovation Fall/Winter Fall Winter F/W FW 2016/17 16/17 16 17
Crystal Light Chrome
Rose Gold
Rose Gold
Scarabeous Green
Scarabeous Green

The metallic effects may also be what Swarovski call “2x”. Using the bicone as an example again, this means that both halves of the bicone are coated as shown below.

Crystal Light Chrome 2x
Crystal Light Chrome 2x
Crystal Metallic Sunshine 2x
Crystal Metallic Sunshine 2x
Crystal iridescent green 2x
Crystal iridescent green 2x
Crystal Metallic Blue 2x
Crystal Metallic Blue 2x

Full Coating

This is similar to 2x but Swarovski tends to apply this term to a different set of colours including the examples below

Crystal Patina

Patina Effects: a partial coating of the correspondingly modified effects

These effects are available on some of the larger items such as pendants and rivolis where the effect can be beautifully seen

Heart - white patina
Heart – white patina
Rivoli - gold patina
Rivoli – gold patina
Drop - copper patina
Drop – copper patina
Spike - black patina
Spike – black patina

Crystal Lacquer Pro Effects

Lacquer Pro Effects: a premium opaque varnish is applied to the reverse side of the crystal instead of foiling, resulting in an opalescent appearance.

Powder effects shown here on flatbacks

Crystal Powder Blue
Crystal Powder Blue
Crystal Powder Rose
Crystal Powder Rose
Crystal Powder Green
Crystal Powder Green
Crystal Powder Yellow
Crystal Powder Yellow

More Lacquer effects are shown here on rivoli stones

Crystal Azure Blue
Crystal Azure Blue
Crystal Mint Green
Crystal Mint Green
Crystal Summer Blue
Crystal Summer Blue
Crystal Peony Pink
Crystal Peony Pink

Shimmer Effects

This new effect radiates 3 shades of a single colour for brilliance and colour vibrancy.

This is available in hotfix and no hotfix flatbacks and now also in some beads and pendants.

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Crystal Shimmer

COLOUR EFFECTS

These are similar to Crystal Effects but are applied to a coloured base, ie using one of the “plain” colours as the base to create a different look

Transparent Effects

These may be half coated, for example an AB coating may be applied to part of a coloured base as in the examples below

 

Fuchsia AB
Fuchsia AB
Light Siam AB
Light Siam AB
Sapphire AB
Sapphire AB
Amethyst AB
Amethyst AB

They may also be fully coated.  An AB effect could be applied to the whole bead to give a more intense effect, as below

Fuchsia AB 2x
Fuchsia AB 2x
Light Siam AB 2x
Light Siam AB 2x
Sapphire AB 2x
Sapphire AB 2x
Amethyst AB 2x
Amethyst AB 2x

Shimmer Effects

The latest Swarovski effect radiates 3 shades of a single colour for brilliance and colour vibrancy on 15 different colour bases.

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Fuchsia Shimmer
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Erinite Shimmer
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Light Siam Shimmer

 

The shimmer effects are now available on beads such as bicones, some pendants and some fancy stones.  The shimmer effects can be half coated or fully coated coated (2x)

Light Topaz Shimmer
Light Topaz Shimmer
Light Topaz Shimmer 2x
Light Topaz Shimmer 2x
Light Siam Shimmer
Light Siam Shimmer
Erinite Shimmer
Erinite Shimmer

Metallic Effects

Again, similar to the Crystal Effects but with the coating applied to a coloured base

The most common example here is jet hematite which may be fully or half coated

Hematite
Hematite

We hope you found this summary of the colours and effects of Swarovski beads and stones a useful aide to finding your way round the many beautiful options. If you would like to look at some online examples you will find our shopping baskets categorised in the same way.  The Swarovski bicones have the most comprehensive range.  Swarovski flatbacks no hotfix and Swarovski hotfix also have very large ranges with most colours available.

 


Laura Ells