I thought I'd share a few new swarovski crystals, well they might not be brand new but I hadn't come across them before.
I got them from Beadgems (www.beadgems.com).
They have a great selection, and the prices are ok too. Delivery was a little on the slow side compared to JillyBeads etc. and they still haven't sent me an invoice, some glitch they said, but still, a great choice.
First up, Crystal Brandy ( ) (beads by Helen B-S)

And secondly, Aquamarine Titan Blue (beads by Clare Scott)

A third new one is the one I used with some of Julie's beads last week. It's called Crystal Sahara.

Alexandrite and Rose Champagne are next on the list to try out.
Nia.

Took me a while to think why you are apologising but then I remembered!
I don't use alot of crystal but I do like it and those are very nice - especially the blue.

Di

Maybe it is bicones- I like the first pic ones- more rounded
Anyway no apology needed!
I think i ust like things blobby -like myself!!

Very pretty, especially the one with crystal brandy.

Brandy, titan and champagne are custom coatings so that might be why you haven't seen them before. Many (most?) bead shops that carry swaros don't have the custom coated ones. I think purple haze is the newest custom coating -- and of cause I'm thinking of getting some eventhough I'm not a big fan of crystal beads (too sparkly).

French

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is a good place for finding many different custom coatings in 4 mm bicones. Mat, mat ab, purple haze, iris, chili, capri gold, ice, dark bronze. They also have "regular" coatings like dorado and CAL on colours Swarovski don't usually use them on.

Thanks for the info Kristina, that explains a lot. I think the website did mention something about custom colours but I got so carried away with deciding which ones I wanted, I didn't take much notice!
Purple Haze ........ mmmmm, now that sounds good.
I also have Crystal Transmission, which seems to have a hint of pink ab about it, but I haven't used it in anything yet.
I think crystal brandy is going to be a firm favourite, it's stunning.
The only problem I have with swaros is that I fall head over heels for colours that are limited editions. Teal and Indicolite Sapphire are two that have now gone. Unless someone else knows differently of course.
Nia.

When I first started using swarovskis I had no idea there even was such a thing as custom coatings (coatings not applied by Swarovski, but by someone else usually by request from a distributor). And then I stumbled on to some french bead shops online plus saw a few auctions and they had all sorts of colours, including my favorite matte, that I had never seen before. There's always something new to learn, it seems.

nia wrote:

The only problem I have with swaros is that I fall head over heels for colours that are limited editions. Teal and Indicolite Sapphire are two that have now gone. Unless someone else knows differently of course.

I sometimes have that problem myself. But there's hope: that they are discounted doesn't mean they never ever will use the colour again in the future. It does happen that they start making them again if there's a demand. Or so I've heard.

But otherwise my biggest problem is that I buy beads just for the name of their colour, both swaros and seed beads. Like crystal Moonlight or opalized rose. Many times the colours are as good as the names, but sometimes it's a disappointment...