When you play the Game of Stones, either you win, or you get discontinued.
Every once and a while, I’ll go to re-order a new batch of stones from Swarovski, only to find that some of my favourite shape/colour combinations have been discontinued.
Unpredictably (much like Game of Thrones), even stones that are popular get the axe. Take, for example, a flatback sew-on jet pear:
Here is a stone that’s pretty run-of-the-mill. It’s not a wild colour or really odd shape that people never use. So why discontinue them??? Sadly, I only have about 5 of these left, and the only other jet pears in this size are fancy stones (not flatbacks). The holes I can work with/without, but I don’t like using a lot of fancies for some of the accessories because of the weight.
The sew-on pears that are flatback actually don’t come in a huge array of colours either. I’ve always found this rather unfortunate, since the 3230 sew-on pear is such a popular choice for costumes and jewelry.
The current Swarovski colour list can be found HERE for regular round flatbacks, and it’s in these stones you’ll find the most variety of colours. Once you get into fancies or more irregular flatback shapes, it starts to get a bit more tricky in terms of what’s available.
Crystal AB (the ballroom “neutral”) has the most selection for shapes and sizes, but even so, you’ll get beautiful stone cuts that randomly get discontinued.
I suppose that when it came down to it, perhaps they did not survive trial by combat.
We do have a large array of colours in stock—including some vintage discontinued goodies— and while we try to accommodate all colour request, there are times where sometimes even if you have seen that particular stone in that particular colour, it just may not be possible. Much like some of our beloved favourite kill-off character on the show, they don’t always come back…. not matter how much we want them to.