Swarovski (; German: [sva'r?fski] ( listen)) is an Austrian producer of lead glass (commonly called crystal) headquartered in Wattens, Austria. The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal Business, that primarily produces lead glass jewelry (commonly called crystal jewelry) and accessories; Swarovski Optik, which produces optical instruments such as telescopes and binoculars; Tyrolit, a manufacturer of grinding, sawing, drilling, and dressing tools, as well as a supplier of tools and machines.
Today, Swarovski Crystal Business is the highest grossing business unit with a global reach of approximately 2,800 stores in around 170 countries, more than 27,000 employees, and a revenue of about 2.6 billion euros (in 2016).
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History
Daniel Swarovski was born in northern Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), 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.
In 1895, Swarovski, financier Armand Kosman, 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 (Austria), 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 ("Cut stones from 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 and telescopes.
Nadja Swarovski, the founder's great-great granddaughter, is a member of the Swarovski executive board. In 1977, Swarovski entered the jewelry market in the United States.
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Products
The Swarovski Crystal range includes lead crystal glass sculptures and miniature, jewelry and couture, home decor, and chandeliers. It is best knownfor its small animal figurines.
All sculptures are marked with a logo. The original Swarovski logo was an edelweiss flower, which was replaced by an S.A.L. logo, which was finally replaced with the current swan logo in 1988.
Crystal glass is produced by melting a mixture of quartz sand, minium, potash and soda at high temperatures. 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, 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 optimise the brilliance of Roses (components with flat backs) and Chatons (diamond cut).
The Swarovski Group includes Tyrolit (makers of abrasive and cutting tools); Swareflex (reflective and luminous road markings); Signity (synthetic and natural gemstones); and Swarovski Optik (optical instruments such as binoculars and rifle scopes).
In 2014, Tristan da Cunha issued a five crown Christmas coin where the reverse has a small Swarovski crystal set in the guiding star behind a colour picture of one of the magi.
Swarovski have created a line of liquid and solid perfumes.
The company runs a crystal-themed museum, Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal Worlds) at its original Wattens site (near Innsbruck, Austria). The Crystal Worlds Centre is fronted by a grass-covered head, the mouth of which is a fountain. The grass-covered Crystal Worlds Centre houses exhibitions related to, or inspired by, the crystals but do not include explanations of how the designs are made, produced or finished.
Swarovski work was exhibited at Asia's Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Fair based on the concept of a single continuous beam of fragmented light travelling through a crystal.
Subsidiary companies
- Atelier Swarovski
- Fashion and jewellery designers. Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren designed a 2014 fall collection.
- Schonbek
- A crystal chandelier manufacturer.
- Swareflex
- A road safety products specialist.
- Swarovski
- Crystal-based animal and other figurines, ornaments and fashion accessories.
- Swarovski Crystal Palace
- Avant-garde lighting and design (chandeliers etc.)
- Swarovski Entertainment
- Swarovski's movie branch
- Swarovski Gemstone Business
- Gemstone designs.
- Swarovski Kristallwelten
- Museum, Art and Entertainment.
- Swarovski Lighting
- Finished lighting products and solutions with crystal for architecture.
- Swarovski Optik
- Optics.
- Swarovski Professional
- Crystal elements produced by Swarovski
- Touchstone Crystal
- Swarovski's direct sales company for ready-made jewelry
- Tyrolit
- A manufacturer of bonded grinding and cut-off wheels.
Active-Crystals
In 2007 Swarovski formed a partnership with electronics giant Philips to produce the "Active-Crystals" consumer electronics range. This includes six USB Memory keys and four in-ear headphones, and in 2008 they included Bluetooth wireless earpieces for the brand, all with some form of Swarovski crystal on them as decoration.
Figurines and collectibles
Swarovski's figurines are collectible, with a stylized mouse being the very first figurine created. A smaller version of this mouse, now labeled the "replica mouse", is still sold. 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 its re-design of the Heavenly Luxe perfume bottle with Swarovski crystals
Sponsorship and placement
Since 2004, Swarovski has created the 9-foot-diametre (2.7 m), 550-pound (250 kg) star or snowflake that tops the Rockefeller Centre Christmas Tree in New York City. The tree ornament now serves as the inspiration for the smaller Annual Edition ornaments that have been sold in the retail stores since 1991.
Swarovski was a sponsor for the 2004 film The Phantom of the Opera, in which the "standing model" of the chandelier was composed of Swarovski crystals. A Swarovski shop window is visible later in the film. However instead of using the edelweiss flower, which would have been the case in the era the film was set, the current swan logo was used.
The 2009 documentary film This Is It showed Michael Jackson rehearsing for a concert tour, featuring costumes covered in Swarovski crystals.
Swarovski is product-placed in the 2011 J-Lo promo video for the single "On The Floor", alongside Crown Royal Whisky and BMW. It is also product-placed in the 2012 Nelly Furtado's Big Hoops music video.
Swarovski are sponsors of the Pakistan Super League for the 2017 season.
Partnerships
Swarovski has worked with Victoria's Secret and their Fashion Show. Also, 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.
Gallery
See also
- Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal Worlds)
References
External links
- Media related to Swarovski at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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