The Featured Bead this time is actually a whole series of beads — one that you probably need to know about!
Coming soon: new #5328 Xilion cut bicone beads from CRYSTALLIZED™ – Swarovski Elements! You may ask, “Dave, why exactly is this important?” The reason is that this bead is replacing one of the most popular beads in the world, the #5301 faceted bicone.
The #5301s from CRYSTALLIZED™ – Swarovski Elements are being phased out by Swarovski, and replaced with Xilion cut #5328 bicones. Swarovski plans to start shipping #5328s in June, and have a full transition before the end of the year. This new cut is unique to Swarovski (preventing unauthorized imitations), and provides a new, higher degree of brilliant shine. Here is one more view, in “line art” provided by the manufacturer:
So if you’re a fan of #5301s, now is the time to stock up. They’ll be collector’s items soon! The most popular colors and sizes of #5301 bicone beads are available at low factory-pack prices when you buy in large quantities. For information on coatings and finishes, see our free online glossary of crystal coatings & effects.
May giveaway:
* You enter by leaving comments this month
* At the end of May, 2 winners will receive coveted Rings & Things goodie packs!
*So read the blog regularly, to enter a lot & to see if you won!
11 Comments
Ooooooh. I know a qualify as a beader, cuz just looking at that pile of random Swarovski beads made me grin. 🙂
[Editor’s note–there was a picture of a Swarovski crystal-bead mix here, which joia’s commenting on–but I removed it once I got the cool 5328 pictures.]
Thank you for the info – as always this is a great place to come for news about the Beadosphere! Now I’m wondering if these will become ‘rare vintage Swarovskis!’ at twice the price or if there will be some nice deep discounting due to discontinuing the line.
Thanks for this post. I have now learned something new 🙂
Glad to pique your interest. 5328 pics coming shortly!
Update: 5328 pics now added – they show how these new beads compare with the older 5301s!
Oh cool! Thanks for the images, there really is a difference!
Wow. Thanks for that great article! I had no idea that they would change a whole line like that. Does that mean that bicones might become more valuable in the future? I know that there have been colors and shapes and sizes that were made 50 years ago that are no longer in production and can be quite rare. Or does that mean that these new beads will just be a higher quality and therefore more desireable? I wonder if prices will remain constant or will increase due to the newness of it and the new technology. Thanks for keeping on the cutting edge! Enjoy the day! Erin
Oh my gosh, I am so glad to have seen this. Thank you for the information.
Thanks for stopping in! No telling, is there, whether a discontinued bead will become a collector’s item. But as Erin says, that has tended to happen.
We’ve all owned things that became collector’s items. Wouldn’t it be nice to predict these things? (Is this the place to sigh over Nirvana’s first single that I bought for $3 and eventually got rid of? It’s now going for $2000.) 🙂
But as far as I’ve been hearing, it sounds like the 5328s will not cost more than the 5301s.
Merci pour cette information. J’ai hâte d’en avoir entre les mains.
Thank you for this information. I look forward to having in my hands.
Great info. I can not wait to go to your road show here in FL next month.