A piece of jewelry that sparkles and shines is a delight to every woman’s eyes. Jewelry come in many forms and materials. There are jewelry that made of pure gold and silver and there are also jewelry that made of glass, crystals, semi-precious stones and other natural materials.

I am always fascinated with fashion jewelry, trinkets and stuff made of crystals especially crystal necklaces, crystal earrings and swarovski crystal brooches. After I graduated from college, I used to make fashion jewelry made of crystals as a hobby. My favorite things to do are crystal brooches, crystal earrings and crystal pendants. I went into every bead supplies stores I know just to find the finest materials I can use for my jewelry-making hobby. After trying different kinds of beads and using different beading materials, I settled myself with crystals.

When buying jewelry made of crystals, you have to remember that there are different facets, cuts, shapes, colors and looks of crystals. There are also crystals that have AB (Aurora Borealis) coating. This coating is often applied to one side of a crystal bead to accentuate the light-scattering properties. The AB coating looks metallic and opaque from the side it is covering but on a transparent crystal bead, the color and brightness of the sparkle shows through strongly when the bead is seen from the other side.

Crystals also come in several qualities and their facets also vary. Also remember that some of the best crystal beads are hand-faceted. Based on my jewelry-making experience, I learned that crystals have different cuts and shapes. The ones I know are:

1. Triangle-Cut – this cut is more angular and has fewer facets but it reflects light very strongly and looks very bright when worn.

2. Hexagon-Cut – this is a common cut for the round variant of crystal beads. This type of crystal bead is sometimes opaque; it is reflective but not translucent.

3. Diamond-Cut – I have several shapes of diamond-cut crystals like round and cushion shapes. Both have diamond facets but their shapes are different.

4. Bicone – there are bicones that are translucent but there are also bicones that are AB coated. Among my beads, this is my most favorite because of its diamond shape.

Of course, aside from the ones I mentioned, there are also other cuts and shapes of crystals but what I know and are always using are triangle cut, hexagon cut, diamond cut and also bicones. If you are still new to beading, these types of crystals are very easy to match with other beads and beading materials. I love these types of crystal because I can make gorgeous and elegant beaded crystal jewelry without hurting my budget.