The Low Down on Crystals, Part 1

What is Crystal Made of?
Part 1 of 5 Part Series on Understanding Crystals as a Material

So what is a crystal really? Well, that’s tricky to answer. It’s clear when trying to purchase pieces for chandeliers or jewelry making, the quality can vary greatly based on the composition, the cut, and the country of origin of the piece of crystal. I’ve learned some interesting facts about crystals from my mother, who has been designing chandeliers for some time now—and she has worked with just about every type of crystal imaginable—and also from my own meanderings into jewelry making and buying beads to that end.

Conservatively, we say that only a bead which has at least 24% lead content is labeled crystal (also called “full-lead” crystal). However, in America the rules are more lenient, and any optically clear glass can be called crystal even though there is 0% lead content. There are even American manufacturers of acrylic crystal (high-quality plastic—not something I would put on a chandelier…).

Here’s another way of categorization, by an American crystal company:

“Crystal falls into the 3 main categories. Fine Crystal or Crystalline is made from a glass mixture that contains 6% - 10% lead oxide. Lead Crystal is made from a glass mixture that contains 10% - 24% lead oxide and Full Lead Crystal is made from a glass mixture that contains 24% lead oxide or more.”

Some manufacturers go above and beyond that 24% mark. High quality crystal usually has about 30% lead content, but the best of the best can get up to 70% lead content, the fois gras of crystals being Swarovski Austrian Crystals (all have at least 32% percent, except for a special line of lead-free crystals they produce). Fun fact: Swarovski’s brand of chandelier crystal, Strass, provides the crystals in the chandeliers at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as well as the Chateaux at Versailles, Paris. If it’s hanging in a world-class setting, the chandelier is clothed in Strass crystals.

But wait, did you say lead? (Part 2)

Sources:
Personal Experience
http://www.cristalier.com

http://www.chandelierparts.com/aboutourcrystal.aspx