Swarovski facts for kids
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| Kommanditgesellschaft | |
| Industry | Fashion, crystal, and jewelry |
| Founded | 1895 (as A. Kosmann, D. Swarovski & Co.) |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | Wattens, Innsbruck-Land District, Austria |
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Key people
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| Products | Crystal, genuine gemstones, created stones, accessories, and lighting |
| Revenue | €2,700,000,000 |
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Number of employees
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~29,000 (2020) |
Swarovski is an Austrian company famous for making beautiful glass crystals. It was started in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski in a town called Wattens, Austria.
The company has three main parts:
- The Swarovski Crystal Business makes crystal glass, jewelry, watches, and other accessories.
- Swarovski Optik creates optical tools like telescopes, binoculars, and special sights for rifles.
- Tyrolit produces tools for grinding, sawing, drilling, and shaping materials.
Today, the Swarovski Crystal Business is very successful. It has about 3,000 stores in 170 countries and employs over 29,000 people. In 2018, it made about 2.7 billion euros! The company is still run by the Swarovski family, but recently, for the first time, people who are not family members have started taking on important leadership roles.
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History of Swarovski
Daniel Swarovski was born in what is now the Czech Republic. His father was a glass cutter, and Daniel learned the skill from him. In 1892, he invented a special electric machine that made it much easier to cut crystal glass.
In 1895, Daniel Swarovski, along with Armand Kosmann and Franz Weis, started the Swarovski company. They built a crystal-cutting factory in Wattens, Tyrol, Austria. They chose this location because they could use hydroelectricity (power from water) to run Daniel's energy-hungry cutting machines. This factory was home to the first machines that changed the jewelry world by making it possible to produce crystals in large amounts. Daniel's dream was to make "a diamond for everyone" by making beautiful crystals affordable.
In 1899, the company started using the edelweiss flower in its logo. It also expanded to France. In 1919, Swarovski started Tyrolit, a company that made grinding and polishing tools.
In 1935, Daniel's son, Wilhelm, made a special pair of binoculars. This led to the creation of Swarovski Optik 14 years later, which makes optical instruments like binoculars and telescopes.
Swarovski entered the United States' jewelry market in 1977.
In April 2020, Robert Buchbauer, a great-great-grandson of Daniel Swarovski, became the new CEO. However, in late 2021, Robert Buchbauer and Mathias Margreiter (the CFO) stepped down. Michele Molon became the company's temporary CEO, making him the first non-family member to lead Swarovski.
Giovanna Battaglia Engelbert was also appointed as the Global Creative Director for the Swarovski Group. She is in charge of how all Swarovski products look and feel. She released her first collections in 2021, inspired by Daniel Swarovski's original designs. She also hired Marina Raphael, a Swarovski family member, to design the company's first handbag line.
Swarovski Products
Swarovski makes many different products. These include glass sculptures, small figures, jewelry, rhinestones, watches, home decorations, and even chandeliers.
All Swarovski sculptures have a special logo. The first logo was an edelweiss flower, then it changed to S.A.L., and since 1988, it has been a swan.
Swarovski glass is made by melting a mix of quartz sand, soda, and other ingredients at very high temperatures. Since 2012, all Swarovski crystal glass is made without lead. To make the crystals sparkle and refract light into a rainbow, Swarovski adds special metallic coatings. For example, "Aurora Borealis" (or "AB") gives the surface a rainbow look. Other coatings include Crystal Transmission, Volcano, Aurum, Shimmer, and Dorado.
Swarovski has also developed a special technology that keeps crystals bright and shiny without using lead. You can often see a hologram on the back of the package that says "advanced crystal superior brilliant lead-free."
In 2004, Swarovski created a special cut called Xilion. This cut makes their flat-backed crystals (Roses) and diamond-cut crystals (Chatons) shine even more brightly.
The Swarovski Group also includes other companies:
- Tyrolit (for abrasive and cutting tools).
- Swareflex (for reflective road markings).
- Swarovski Gemstones (for synthetic and natural gemstones).
- Swarovski Optik (optical instruments like binoculars).
Since 2006, the Royal Canadian Mint has made special collector coins that include Swarovski crystal parts. For example, in 2018, they released 12 different birthstone coins, each with a different Swarovski crystal.
Swarovski started its first watch collection in 1999, and these watches are made in Switzerland. The company also has its own line of perfumes.
Exhibitions and Museum
Swarovski has a crystal-themed museum called "Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal Worlds)" in Wattens, Austria, where the company first started. The museum entrance is shaped like a giant grass-covered head with a fountain coming out of its mouth!
Swarovski's work has also been shown at fashion and accessory fairs in Asia. They even worked with the London Design Museum in 2012 for an exhibition that combined digital technology with crystals.
Swarovski Businesses
Swarovski has many different business areas:
- Active-Crystals
- In 2007, Swarovski teamed up with electronics company Philips to create "Active-Crystals." This line included USB memory sticks and headphones decorated with Swarovski crystals.
- Atelier Swarovski
- Atelier Swarovski works with famous luxury designers to create special jewelry collections, as well as items for architecture and home decor. Many famous designers like Viktor and Rolf, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Karl Lagerfeld have designed collections for Atelier Swarovski. Actress Penelope Cruz was also a global brand ambassador for Atelier Swarovski.
- Chamilia
- Chamilia makes unique beads, charms, and jewelry, often with sparkling crystal details.
- Swareflex
- This part of the company specializes in products that help with road safety.
- Swarovski
- This is the main business that makes crystal animal figures, other ornaments, and fashion accessories.
- Swarovski Crystal Palace
- This part of the company focuses on modern lighting and design, including beautiful chandeliers.
- Swarovski Gemstone Business
- This business designs and sells gemstones.
- Swarovski Kristallwelten
- This is the museum, art, and entertainment division.
- Swarovski Lighting
- This division creates lighting products and solutions using crystals for buildings and homes.
- Swarovski Optik
- This part of the company makes optical devices like binoculars and rifle scopes.
- Swarovski Professional
- This division produces crystal elements that other companies can use in their own products.
- Touchstone Crystal
- This is Swarovski's direct sales company for ready-made jewelry.
- Tyrolit
- This company makes grinding and cutting tools.
Figurines and Collectibles
Swarovski's crystal figures are popular collectibles. The very first figure they made was a stylized mouse. A smaller version of this mouse, called the "replica mouse," is still sold today.
In November 2014, Victoria's Secret redesigned its Heavenly Luxe perfume bottle to include Swarovski crystals.
Sponsorships and Crystal in Entertainment
Swarovski crystals have been used in many films, theater shows, and fashion events over the years.
Films
Swarovski crystals have sparkled in many movies:
- James Cameron's 1997 movie Titanic
- Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film Moulin Rouge
- The 2002 James Bond movie James Bond: Die Another Day, where a scene shows Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry on a bed of what look like diamonds, but are actually Swarovski crystals.
- The 2004 film The Phantom of the Opera, where the chandelier was made of Swarovski crystals.
- The 2009 documentary This Is It, showing Michael Jackson rehearsing in costumes covered in Swarovski crystals.
- Natalie Portman's dress in the 2010 film Black Swan.
- The 2012 James Bond movie Skyfall, where designer Stephen Webster used over 60,000 Swarovski crystals to decorate the Bond girl Severine.
- A Royal Night Out featured costume jewelry made with Swarovski crystals.
- The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman.
- Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson.
- Bohemian Rhapsody (seen in the crown worn by Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury).
- Rocketman.
All the jewelry in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes starring Marilyn Monroe was made of Swarovski crystal. Also, the tiara worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's was decorated with Swarovski crystals.
Theatre Productions
The West End show Follies used over 600,000 Swarovski crystals. The musical Aladdin used over 2 million Swarovski crystals!
The 2018 show Dreamgirls included one million Swarovski crystals on 275 costumes and three crystal curtains.
Music Tours
The American singer Madonna wore a Swarovski crystal dress during her Rebel Heart Tour while performing her song Music.
Rihanna also wore a full Swarovski crystal dress when she appeared at the American Grammys.
Michael Jackson's famous crystal glove, which sold for $192,000 at an auction in 2010, was also made with Swarovski crystal.
Fashion Shows
Swarovski has worked with Victoria's Secret for 15 years on their Fashion Show. For the 2018 show, model Elsa Hosk wore a "Fantasy Bra" that had over one million dollars' worth of Swarovski crystals.
In 2017, Swarovski asked a fashion tech company called ElektroCouture to create a $60,000 Art Deco-style dress. This dress, inspired by Marlene Dietrich's famous style, had 2,000 crystals and 150 LED lights.
Swarovski often works with top fashion designers for Fashion Weeks around the world. For example, they collaborated with House of Holland and Mary Katrantzou for London Fashion Week in 2018.
A very famous client of Swarovski was Liberace, a musician who loved sparkle. He used many Swarovski rhinestones to cover his piano and even his car! Swarovski recognized his importance by creating a huge rhinestone called "the Heart of Liberace" in 1985. This crystal weighs about 23 kg (50 pounds) and is now on display at the Hollywood Car Museum in Las Vegas.
Partnerships
Since 2004, Swarovski has provided the large, sparkling star or snowflake that sits on top of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York City. Smaller versions of this ornament are sold each year.
Swarovski also owned the Austrian football club FC Swarovski Tirol from 1986 to 1992.
In 2018, famous chef Nadiya Hussain, TV personality Katie Piper, and Kris Hallenga (founder of CoppaFeel) became Swarovski's ambassadors for their #BrillianceforAll campaign.
In 2019, Swarovski partnered with Dior for an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. This show featured old Dior designs decorated with Swarovski crystals.
Swarovski also hosts the "Designers of the Future Award" each year. This award celebrates young and talented designers. Past winners include famous architects and designers like Ross Lovegrove and Zaha Hadid.
In November 2023, Swarovski worked with the shapewear brand Skims to create a new collection of body jewelry.
Images for kids
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Swarovski store in Frankfurt
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Swarovski store in Munich
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Swarovski Wattens
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The factory in Wattens
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Swarovskistraße Wattens September 2007
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Swarovski in Richmond Hill, Ontario
See also
In Spanish: Swarovski para niños
- Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal Worlds)
