puneet kapoor 
In the world of fashion, beads are considered to be the smallest object of art and there is no field of art where there is a lot of effort that is needed to be exerted just to be copied or imitated.
Generally, the more expensive the bead materials are, the more it is often being imitated, with or without any malicious intentions especially if the beads are made up of precious stones, minerals, gold, silver, pearls, amber, coral and other semi-precious stones that are very expensive and rare in the market.
Unfortunately, a lot of these materials that are used for bead jewellery are the most commonly imitated materials which are usually mass produced and are of low-quality. In terms of counting the imitations, there are no exact figures that authorities and the jewellery industry documented because of its vastness, and oftentimes, these imitations have the more vibrant design and have the merits compared to the original. Also, there are instances that these imitations are very well done that only an expert jeweller can determine and tell you its authenticity, and if needed, uses special equipment to detect if it is a fake or not.
Although determining a fake and a real bead jewellery piece is quite intricate, we prepare a list of general rules that you should always remember so that you can easily learn to determine the fake ones from the real ones.
PRICE DISCREPANCY- You might come across a bead necklace that is displayed in a shop or in a mall that has a very suspicious low price. You should feel suspicious because bead necklaces are usually of high value and if you look at the price tag you might be surprised how cheap it is. If there is a discrepancy between the price of the necklace and the place of where it is being displayed, then there are good chances that it is an imitation. You should always go for a jewellery shop if you are looking for bead necklace jewellery and do not expect that this place will have a low price for its jewellery pieces.
THE HOLE OF THE BEADS- One of the most noticeable appearance to tell if the bead is genuine or not is the hole of it. Take a good look at the holes of the bead because valuable materials like pearl, jade, and coral have to save that the jewellery makers have to drill a very small hole to it enough to insert the string that will attach the other beads to each other. Imitations meanwhile have a larger hole which is easily determined and does not require a jewellery expert to examine it. Also, if there are any damages around the holes of the bead, you can tell that it is an imitation.
BEAD COLORS- It is a given that beads have different types and have different materials to make one, like wood, metal, plastic, glass or Swarovski Crystal Beads which can create a vast variety of colourful designs. A lot of people might feel surprised if they learn that these materials can be easily coloured to appear like a precious stone. Imitators have a certain technique that enables them to enhance the colour of their beads to make it look like a precious stone and make it look expensive and glamorous so don’t be fooled. It is pretty easy to tell if it is fake because not all precious stones have bright and vibrant colours, some of it has dull and have a distinct texture and colour that makes it look more real than the fake ones.
