I am writing this Guide due to the influx of Sellers trying to pass off Plastic & other Material Faux Pearls as authentic Swarovski Faux Pearls. There is a huge difference in quality!!! Swarovski Faux Pearls are like the Caddillac of Faux Pearls!

A few simple ways to tell if you have received a fake:
•If the Pearls have scratches or blemishes on them, Swarovski puts a special coating that is scratch resistant.
•Paint runs, Swarovski Faux Pearls are actually coated, not spray painted
•Paint overspray on the cord or line they come strung on. You would see this inbewteen the beads on the line itself, if you see this they are not authentic!
•Lacking Luster. The Swarovskis have such a high beautiful luster, something the fakes just can't perfect.
•Dimples or other indentations on the beads or around the holes, fakes tend to have these

A few easy ways to tell if they are Authentic:
•They will be scratch free
•They should be blemish free
•They should look like the best high end South Sea pearls you have ever seen, almsot too perfect
•If you shine a bright light from behind (on the lighter colored ones) you will be able to see the edges of the crystal core which is a Swarovski only thing
•Swarovski Faux Pearls are also a bit heavier then alot of other fake pearls, due to the extra coatings.. crystal core... and over all better build quality
•If you examine the drill holes carefull, you should notice a white core under the coating inside the drill hole, while this does not mean it is definitely Swarovski, it is a key sign to help you on your way to identification.
•Holding authtentic Swarovskis side by side with the fakes makes it extremely easy to dientify the fakes! So, IMHO, it is worth buying atleast part of a strand just to keep for identification purposes!

One other way to tell, is to check the colors!! Swarovski Faux Pearls only come in certain colors, so if the ones you have are not on the list of colors, they are not real!

Here is an image of a majority of the colors Swarovski Faux Pearls come in, but not all of them:


Here is a text list of all the colors:
Black Pearl
Bright Gold Pearl
Bronze Pearl
Brown Pearl
Burgundy Pearl
Copper Pearl
Cream Pearl
Creamrose Light Pearl
Creamrose Pearl
Dark Green Pearl
Dark Grey Pearl
Dark Purple Pearl
Gold Pearl
Light Blue Pearl
Light Green Pearl
Light Grey Pearl
Maroon Pearl
Mauve Pearl
Mystic Black Pearl
Night Blue Pearl
Peach Pearl
Powder Almond Pearl
Powder Rose Pearl
Rosaline Pearl
Tahitian-look Pearl
White Pearl

Check back, as I will be including images of some Fakes!

Here are the images of the fakes:

Notice all the scratches and blemishes


Notice there is no crystal inside


Paint runs and blemishes
 

Notice the paint overspray on the cord


Some Images of Authentic Swarovski Faux Pearls

Notice the inner crystal
 

This was taken through a microscope and shows just hjow nice the surface of an Authentic Swarovski Faux Pearl is!