What's the difference between real crystal chandeliers and glass?
One of the most common questions we get asked is “What is the difference between real crystal chandeliers and glass”. Glass is made up of melted sand. When most crystal is made, it is infused with 5%-30% lead. This lead creates the light refraction you see, which equals thousands of colors sparkling as light passes through the glass.
High quality crystal is very clear and clean, and it sparkles with even the smallest amount of light. Cheap crystal, on the other hand, is foggy and faint and doesn’t have near the sparkle. The difference between high quality crystal and cheap crystal is hard to see with the naked eye until you are aware of these differences—at which point you notice it all the time!
See the picture example below. The two pendants are exactly the same, but one is glass and the other is crystal. This may look like a dismissive difference, but add 3,000 of those pendants on a chandelier and get ready to be inspired, or disappointed!
As you may expect, all of our chandeliers are crystal, not glass; therefore, they sparkle immensely! The highest grade crystal is Swarovski crystal which is manufactured in Austria. We currently feature multiple chandeliers with Swarovski crystal. If you’re looking for sparkle, don’t get stuck with fog!