# Difference between Korean and Chinese stones



## dandeibert (May 26, 2011)

I've been using Korean stones but notice that the Chinese stones seem to be less expensive. I know that you get what you pay for and all... but is there a major quality difference between the two?

thanks in advance.


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## DivineBling (Sep 14, 2010)

Yes.... usually.

There are some high quality Chinese stones which are actually better than Korean, but usually the price reflects that. The best thing for you to do is to buy samples so you're not investing a ton of money up front. That way you can see the quality for yourself.


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## stacib (Jul 6, 2012)

I've been using Korean as well but my supplier just gave me some the were a little nicer. Not quite a Swarovski but they sparkle a little nicer than the Korean.


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## DivineBling (Sep 14, 2010)

stacib said:


> I've been using Korean as well but my supplier just gave me some the were a little nicer. Not quite a Swarovski but they sparkle a little nicer than the Korean.


It sounds like you got some machine cut rhinestones.


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## gabenick2 (Nov 23, 2010)

DivineBling said:


> It sounds like you got some machine cut rhinestones.


A few months ago I decided to start importing my stones, I received so many samples and I also received some machine cut stones...they sparkled like crazy! I was able to see the difference between machine cut and Korean.

I did receive Korean and Chinese, what I did was press the same design several times with Korean and Chinese stones in several colors, I then asked my pickiest customers to point out the best quality stone....they couldn't tell the difference.

When testing my stones I found Chinese stones to have more defective stones than the Korean. The wash test was the same for both.

There are grades of Chinese stones, some better than others and you bet the price will reflect it. Honestly, I was expecting the quality of the chinese stones to be much worse. As Stephanie mentioned, their are some chinese stones that are good. I use the rainbow and hot pink stones and those are Chinese quality.

A few weeks ago I went to the mall and saw some rhinestoned heels (name brand, quite expensive) the quality of the stones used were terrible. The lowest quality Chinese stones I had received as samples were much better than the stones used for the 200.00 pair heels. WOW at that point I confirmed I was a stone snob


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## toddcarl (Jul 12, 2012)

*Hands down* you will get what you pay for here. Not only do the Korean stones refract the light better, but they also have a much better quality adhesive on them.

We purchase our stones in bulk (100k gross to 500k gross at a time) so the per stone price is absolutely minuscule ($0.003). At such a small unit price, it is not even worth considering using the Chinese stones and potentially experiencing quality issues.

Just my humble opinion.


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