Swarovski


Swarovski is an Austrian producer of glass headquartered in Wattens, Austria, and has existed as a family-owned business since its founding in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski.
The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal Business, that primarily produces Crystal glass, jewelry and accessories; Swarovski Optik, which produces optical instruments such as telescopes, telescopic sights for rifles, and binoculars; and Tyrolit, a manufacturer of grinding, sawing, drilling, and dressing tools, as well as a supplier of tools and machines.
Today, the is one of the highest grossing business units within Swarovski, with a global reach of approximately 3,000 stores in roughly 170 countries, more than 29,000 employees, and a revenue of about 2.7 billion euros.
Swarovski is now run by the fifth generation of family members.

History

was born in northern Bohemia, 20 km from the current border with Poland. His father was a glass cutter and owned a small glass factory. It was there that the young Swarovski served an apprenticeship, becoming skilled in the art of glass-cutting. In 1892 he patented an electric cutting machine that facilitated the production of crystal glass.
flower in its logo
In 1895, Swarovski, financier Armand Kosmann, and Franz Weis founded the Swarovski company, originally known as A. Kosmann, D. Swarovski & Co. and shortened to KS & Co. The company established a crystal-cutting factory in Wattens, Tyrol, to take advantage of local hydroelectricity for the energy-intensive grinding processes Daniel Swarovski had patented. Swarovski's vision was to make "a diamond for everyone" by making crystals affordable.
In 1899, it first used the edelweiss flower in its logo and expanded to France, where it was known as Pierres Taillées du Tyrol. In 1919, Swarovski founded Tyrolit, bringing the grinding and polishing tools from the crystal business into a different market.
In 1935, Swarovski's son Wilhelm created a customized pair of binoculars, which led to the launch of Swarovski Optik 14 years later. Swarovski Optik manufactures optical instruments such as binoculars, spotting scopes, rifle scopes and telescopes.
In 1977, Swarovski entered the United States' jewelry market.
Nadja Swarovski, the founder's great-great granddaughter, became the first female member of the Swarovski executive board in 2012.

Nazi Period

Members of the Swarovski family were early, active and enthusiastic champions of National Socialism, and at least six of its members maintained membership in the illegal party prior to Austria’s annexation to National Socialist Germany on 12 March 1938. Three weeks earlier, 500 marchers in the Tyrolean town of Wattens held a torchlight procession that ended with chants of "Sieg Heil" and "Heil Hitler." The majority of the participants, police determined, were Swarovski plant employees, among them Swarovski family heirs Alfred, Wilhelm and Friedrich.
In its report to the state police on 14 February 1947, the Innsbruck district administrator called company head Alfred Swarovski “an enthusiastic member of the NSDAP." Alfred Swarovski praised Hitler at business gatherings and took actions as a regional business leader to ensure that “Tyrolean industry could be integrated as smoothly as possible into the enormous gears of the economy of Greater Germany and into the National Socialist economic order." He sent "grateful loyalty greetings" to Adolf Hitler on his 49th birthday and arranged a donation of 100,000 shillings for Hitler to establish a holiday home in Tyrol.
The company exploited its political connections and stewardship of the regional business association to emerge stronger from the Nazi era. During the war it diversified its production and expanded its business lines, adding abrasives, optical devices, telescopes, binoculars and other product lines during the war and growing from 500 to almost 1,200 employees between the Anschluss and March 1944.
"From my party affiliation, I only took advantage of the fact that it was possible for me as a party member to initiate the negotiations necessary for maintaining the company and to bring it to a successful conclusion with the responsible economic agencies of the Reich." Alfred Swarovski told the Innsbruck People's Court after the war.
In 1994, historian Horst Schreiber wrote about Swarovski’s past but was not granted access to company archives.
The contemporary Swarovski company commissioned historian Dieter Stiefel as “a step towards dealing with our history in a serious and very proactive manner,” board spokesman Markus Langes-Swarovski said in 2018, however the study was not published because, Langes-Swarovski said, “Swarovski is a company that generally tries to keep the owners' personal stories largely out of the public eye because it does nothing for the business.”
Swarovski Group’s website omits mention of the Nazi period in the “Our History” section, skipping the years between 1931 and 1949 on its timeline.

Products

Swarovski produces products such as glass sculptures, miniature, jewelry, rhinestones, home decor, and chandeliers.
All sculptures are marked with a logo. The original edelweiss flower Swarovski logo was replaced by an S.A.L. logo, which was replaced with the swan logo in 1988.
Swarovski glass is produced by melting a mixture of quartz sand, soda, potash and other ingredients at high temperatures. Lead, usually used in the form of lead tetroxide, is not used anymore and all Swarovski Crystal glass produced since 2012 has been lead-free. To create crystal glass that lets light refract in a rainbow spectrum, Swarovski coats some of its products with special metallic chemical coatings. For example, Aurora Borealis, or "AB", gives the surface a rainbow appearance. Other coatings are named by the company, including Crystal Transmission, Volcano, Aurum, Shimmer, and Dorado. Coatings may be applied to only part of an object; others are coated twice, and thus are designated AB 2X, Dorado 2X, etc.
In 2004 Swarovski released Xilion, a copyrighted cut designed to optimize the brilliance of Roses and Chatons.
The Swarovski Group includes Tyrolit ; Swareflex ; Swarovski Gemstones ; and Swarovski Optik.
Since 2006, the Royal Canadian Mint has issued collectors' coins with Swarovski crystal components. The 2006 crystal snowflake coin was gold, with the reverse having six lens-shaped iridescent crystals on a snowflake. Subsequent years' crystal snowflake coins have been $20 silver coins featuring different colored crystals. In 2018, the Canadian mint issued twelve different birthstone coins, each with a different Swarovski crystal. The Canadian mint's 12-coin 2019 zodiac series will feature 20 Swarovski crystals on each coin.
In 2014, Tristan da Cunha issued a five crown Christmas coin in which a small Swarovski crystal is set in the guiding star behind a colored picture of one of the magi.
In 2018, Equatorial Guinea issued a silver coin with a black Swarovski crystal skull element.
Swarovski have created a line of liquid and solid perfumes.

Exhibitions and museum

The company runs a crystal-themed museum, the "Swarovski Kristallwelten " at its original Wattens site. The Crystal Worlds Center is fronted by a grass-covered head, the mouth of which is a fountain.
Swarovski work was exhibited at Asia's "Fashion Jewelry & Accessories Fair" based on the concept of a single continuous beam of fragmented light traveling through a crystal.
In 2012, Swarovski collaborated with the London Design Museum to present an exhibition mixing digital technology with crystals.

Swarovski businesses

;Atelier Swarovski
;Chamilia
;Schonbek
;Swareflex
;Swarovski
;Swarovski Crystal Palace
;Swarovski Gemstone Business
;Swarovski Kristallwelten
;Swarovski Lighting
;Swarovski Optik
;Swarovski Professional
;Touchstone Crystal
;Tyrolit
;Active-Crystals

Figurines and collectibles

Swarovski's figurines are collectible,;its first produced figurine was a stylized mouse. A smaller version of this mouse, now labeled the "replica mouse," is still sold to this day.
Swarovski Elements crystals were included in some collectible silver coins issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2009.
In November 2014, Victoria's Secret revealed a redesign of its Heavenly Luxe perfume bottle with Swarovski crystals.

Sponsorship and crystal product placement

Swarovski's Communications and Branding Business has successfully placed Swarovski crystal in a number of films, theater productions and fashion shows over the last hundred years.

Films

Swarovski crystal has been featured in the following films:
All the jewelry from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes starring Marilyn Monroe were Swarovski crystal. Additionally, the tiara worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's was adorned in Swarovski crystal.

Theater productions

The West End theater production of Follies featured over 600,000 Swarovski crystals, while the West End musical production of Aladdin used over 2 million Swarovski crystals.
The 2018 production of Dreamgirls incorporated one million Swarovski crystals into the production, adorning 275 costumes and 3 crystal curtains.

Music tours

The American Singer Madonna wore a Swarovski Crystal Dress in her Rebel Heart Tour while performing her song Music.Rihanna also wore an entire Swarovski Crystal Dress in her appearance at the American Grammys.
Michael Jackson's crystal glove, which sold for $192,000 at auction in 2010 was also made of Swarovski crystal.

Fashion shows

Swarovski has worked with Victoria's Secret and their Fashion Show for 15 years. For the 2018 Fashion Show, Victoria Secret model Elsa Hosk wore a Fantasy Bra featuring over one million dollars' worth of Swarovski crystal.
In 2017, Swarovski commissioned a $60,000 Art Deco-styled dress in the style of Marlene Dietrich's famous "nude dress", from Berlin-based fashion tech company ElektroCouture to honor her legacy 25 years after her death. It contains 2,000 crystals in addition to 150 LED lights. ElektroCouture owner Lisa Lang said that the dress was inspired by electrical diagrams and correspondence that took place between the actress and fashion designer Jean Louis in 1958. "She wanted a dress that glows, she wanted to be able to control it herself from the stage and she knew she could have died of an electric stroke had it ever been realized." The dress created by Lang's company was featured in French-German broadcaster Arte’s documentary „Das letzte Kleid der Marlene Dietrich”.
Swarovski actively collaborates with high-profile fashion designers for numerous Fashion Weeks taking place around the world. For London Fashion Week in 2018, Swarovski collaborated with the House of Holland, Mary Katrantzou and Richard Quinn. For New York Fashion Week in 2018, Swarovski collaborated with Jason Wu, Alexander Wang, Brandon Maxwell, Gabriela Hearst and Rosie Assoulin.

Partnerships

Since 2004, Swarovski has provided the, star or snowflake that tops the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York City. Smaller versions of this are sold as Annual Edition ornaments.
Swarovski owned the Austrian football club FC Swarovski Tirol from 1986 to 1992.
In 2018, celebrity chef Nadiya Hussain, TV personality Katie Piper, and CoppaFeel founder Kris Hallenga, were announced as Swarovski's latest ambassadors, and starred in the brand's ongoing #BrillianceforAll campaign.
In 2019, Swarovski partnered with Dior for its exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, featuring archival designer pieces emblazoned with Swarovski crystal.
Swarovski annually hosts the Designers of the Future Award in recognition of young and up-and-coming designers. The previous winners of the Swarovski Designers of the Future Award include influential designers and architects: Ross Lovegrove, Greg Lynn, Troika, Fredrikson Stallard, Erwin Redl, Eyal Burstein, Asif Khan, Guilherme Torres, Jeanne Gang and Mexico City-based global architecture and design practice Fernando Romero Enterprise. The 2018 winners were Frank Kolkman, an experimental Dutch designer focused on robotic technologies; Study O Portable, a research-based Dutch-Japanese practice making objects about the designed environment, and Yosuke Ushigome of TAKRAM, a creative Japanese technologist specializing in emerging technologies.

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