Sterling silver Swarovski earrings

When it comes to jewellery, sometimes a bit of sparkle is just what you need to lift your mood - and if you love earrings, then a pair of twinkly earrings is what you'll go for! If diamond earrings are a strain on your budget (I know they would be on mine), then there is another option: Swarovski crystal earrings. These days, Swarovski crystals are used to adorn everything from handbags to picture frames, but if you ask most people what they think of when they think of Swarovski crystals, then they would probably answer "jewellery". Swarovski markets its own line of crystal jewellery (including earrings) on its website and in stores around the world, but although the pieces are beautiful, they can be pricey. However, there are other companies producing their own ranges of earrings incorporating Swarovski crystals. 

Many of these are available to buy online, at Amazon.com - my top picks are shown in the capsules in this hub, so do have a look and see if there's anything that grabs your attention. All the pieces you see are set in sterling silver, and some include other stones or materials (e.g. turquoise or abalone) that complement the twinkling crystals!

The term "crystal" is a bit of a misnomer, because Swarovski crystals are actually made from glass which as you may remember from your school science classes, isn't actually crystalline at all, but is a supercooled liquid. However, Swarovski crystals aren't made from regular domestic glass, but from a glass in which the calcium present in ordinary glass has been replaced by lead. The presence of lead makes for a brilliant sparkle when the glass is formed into faceted beads or gemstones. To increase the sparkle factor even more, many Swarovski beads/stones are painted with chemical coatings such as Aurora Borealis, which imparts an irridescent rainbow sheen (just like the Northern Lights after which the coating is named). Aurora Borealis coatings were actually developed by Swarovski in conjunction with Dior in the 1950s and despite going out of fashion a bit in the intervening years, are enjoying renewed popularity - many of the earrings shown in this hub are made with Aurora Borealis-coated beads. In addition to Aurora Borealis, there are many other coatings for Swarovski crystals, including Vitrail Medium (fantastic shades of purple, green and blue), Satin (a haematite-type finish) and Volcano, a stunning purply/red/orange hue.

© Empress Felicity February 2011