Question:
Has anyone had any experience with the Celestial Crystal? I know it
doesn't come in as many nice colors as the Swarovski, but for the
clear and clear ab crystals, I thought it'd be a good substitution. I
know they are hand cut....does that mean that they're not at all
uniform? How off are they?
Answer:
-The best way to see the difference is to look at them side by side. The
Swarovskis are a much, much better crystal bead.
I've see the Celestial brand and in my opinon they do not compare.
-That doesn't surprise me. But how does the CC stand up against less expensive
crystal beads, such as Czech fire-polished? Is it about the same, or
considerably lower in quality?
-Not even nearly as nice as Swarovski. You can find good deals with
Swarovski - I would stick with that if I were you.
-I don't even think of Czech fire-polished as crystal. I think of it as
another type of glass bead. Czech is very high quality for what it is.
Swarvski is bar-none the best in quality, for crystal. I use both, but don't
use CC because it is lower quality crystal.
-I sometimes combine it with Swarovski, in coordinating colors. The
Swarovski really stands out in sparkly contrast, but the firepolish,
with its softer edges, feels better against the skin than the
sharp-faceted crystals.
So, I let the firepolish fill in around the back of a necklace, which
the wearer can feel, but most folks aren't going to see very much of,
while the 'good stuff' stays front and center, earning its keep in
dazzle-factor.
