Preciosa Crystal

Have you ever had a feeling that some of your life has been spent under a rock or in a self imposed bubble? Can you really know about everything out there in the world at one time? What fun would that be, if you knew everything there was to know? I suppose you have to have something to look forward to.

That's my excuse for having no awareness of Preciosa Crystal...it was an exciting "discovery"! A fellow beader, who happens to be my Dad, sent me a care package from Florida last week. He mentioned it was on its way, but didn't mention what it contained. Since my parents are avid garage sale fans, I thought it might be a new stash of "vintage" pieces.

Well, as luck would have it, his favorite bead store, the Anderson's Bead Room, in Port Charlotte has just relocated to a larger building and increased their inventory. They have also opened up an online shop. Since my Dad teaches beading classes throughout the winter while in Florida it's not unusual to find him perusing their inventory.

One of the items he sent was a pair of 6mm "Preciosa" cube/setting. As I was thinking about all the different things I could make with these cubes, I was wondering what the word "Preciosa" meant. I thought it was some new shade of clear that I hadn't heard of so I went in search of more information.

I discovered, very naively, that Preciosa is the name of a company which specializes in the production of machine cut beads, etc. For any of you who have also been living innocently in a secure little bubble, here is some additional info taken directly from their website:

"Preciosa is a world leading producer of cut crystal, specializing mainly in the production of machine cut chatons, beads and other fashion jewelry stones of top quality and in a broad variety of shapes, colors and sizes. The company’s headquarters are in Jablonec nad Nisou (Northern Bohemia), in a region with hundreds of years of glass making tradition.

Kamenický Šenov is a town where Preciosa produces crystal trimming chandeliers as well as contemporary decorative lighting fixtures. It also prepares custom-made lighting fixtures for a wide range of prestigious buildings such as theaters, hotels and luxury palaces. The chandelier making tradition dates back to 1724.

In addition to fashion jewelry components and chandeliers, Preciosa also exports fashion jewelry stones of cubic zirconia, exclusive fashion jewelry, crystal figurines and gifts to many countries worldwide."

What a great web site with lots of gorgeous sparkles to wrap up the weekend!