Swarovski - Who Or What Exactly Is It?

You know when something is a household name, just a part of everyday life and you don’t think about it; you wear it, you see the word, the name, the thing, and you never question it? Well, a few weeks ago I stopped and questioned Swarovski, and Oh My God!

Say Swarovski and you may immediately think “Oh yeah, sparkly rhinestones and expensive crystal animal knick knacks”, but who and what exactly is Swarovski - is it a person? Is it a substance? The answer is far more exciting than I could have imagined.

A few weeks ago on a thrift store truffle hunt I spotted from across the room a huge dragonfly brooch pinned to the clavicle of a torso of a mannequin sitting on the top shelf of a shabby charity shop in a rundown town (my favourite places).

I’m small but tall for my height, and had to wrestle the body down to the ground to grab my prey. I find it unnerving when I have to put my arms around my own mannequin at home to do up a tricky zip and always say “excuse me” out loud whilst looking away, so it is even more uncomfortable manhandling a strange body part in a public arena. I’ve trained myself to not stop and think about it now though, and it’s best to ignore the “please ask for assistance” signs too, I just get in there and rumble.

Once I had the brooch in my hands I turned it over and immediately saw it was signed with the swan logo on the back, the embossed swan logo in profile is the mark of Swarovski and means it’s a quality bit of bling. Then I always check them over and over again for any “missing teeth” as I call it - loose or missing stones or crystals. This beast was in mint condition, it looked freshly hatched out of the box, bright gold tone metal and twinkling crystals. It was £4, which is at the top end for a charity shop brooch, but it was BIG and it was a BEAUT!

When I got home I sat and admired it for hours. It’s so shiny. I guessed it was probably dated from the 1990’s and the more I looked at it the better it got. It is a work of art really, a divine concept, exquisite design, charming character, superb dazzling quality and fine craftmanship. I then looked at comps online to see it’s current value and listed it for sale on eBay, in the middle, for £42. It didn’t seem enough really, so I ended the listing and now I’m keeping it. Let’s hope it keeps me warm when the gas bill comes in.

I was still thinking about it a few days later and realised Swarovski, like so many other things, was something I thought I knew, but in reality was just another one of those things that I had never really questioned. What exactly does the name mean - is it a corporate name or an actual person? How long have they been going? Where did it start? What exactly are the crystals - are they just glass, simulated diamonds, or some other form of natural stone? Is it actually that special and if so, why?

Well, I had a preconception, formed largely from the image of the stores on the top floor of every giant shopping mall in the country and airport departure lounge in the world, that it was a high quality, but mass produced product, invented, or possibly an old company rebranded, by a corporate company in the 1980’s.

I was wrong, so wrong. and the actual story is absolutely fantastic. The Swarovski was a real man, Daniel Swarovski, and he was a true Bohemian, literally. An inventor, an musician, an artist, an engineer, a designer and all round visionary.

DANIEL SWAROVSKI - A TRUE BOHEMIAN

Born on the 24 October 1862 (died aged 93, January 23, 1956 ) in the Jizera Mountains of Bohemia, which was then the Austrian Empire, now the Czech Republic. After failing to become a professional violinist, he started work in his father’s small glass cutting factory gaining a huge amount of experience and constantly developed new techniques, but it was a visit to the 1883 Electricity Exhibition in Vienna that inspired him, at the age of 21, to invent, and within ten years patent, a machine that would revolutionise the entire glass industry.

His dream was “a diamond for everyone”, and combined with his unique electric glass grinding machine and a secret crystal formula, which included around 32% lead oxide (typically other rhinestones contain around 24%), he brought affordable luxury, sparkle and glamour to the middle-classes of Europe and then the world. He harnessed electricity and lit up the world of film, fashion and jewellery.

“Daniel Swarovski’s goal was to make the crystal more popular,  to create a “diamond for everyone”. His patent was to melt a mixture of quartz sand, minium, potassium and soda at high temperatures, but the exact treatment process remains a strictly protected secret until today. In order to get a refraction of light in the rainbow spectrum, it uses proper cutting angles developed over the years, as well as metallic light-scattering coatings, such as Aurora Borealis, Crystal Transmission, Volcano, Aurum, Shimmer and Dorado.

Not only did he strive to create the best possible crystals, but he also did that with a strong commitment to high ecological and ethical standards.” - Mensgear.net

SPARKLING SWAROVSKI MOMENTS IN TIME:

1932 Marlene Dietrich’s dazzling debut in her white tuxedo in “Blonde Venus”

1939 Judy Garland’s magical ruby slippers in “The Wizard Of Oz”

1953 Marilyn Monroe performs “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” in the pink satin dress and dripping in Swarovski crystal jewellery in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”

1962 Possibly the most famous dress of all time - the history-making scandalous shimmering sheer dress worn by Marilyn Monroe when she sang “Happy Birthday, Mr President” on stage at Madison Square Garden to JFK. Designed by a student Bob Mackie, with over 2500 rhinestones, it is believed she was sewn into the dress and apparently underwear-free, to ensure a seamless fit. The dress sold in 2016 for $4.8 million and must surely be the most icon dress in pop culture history.

Fabulous.

Please Note:

[In addition to being a visionary inventor and jewellery designer, he was also a benevolent employer. However in later times, the reputation of the company that Daniel believed in has been deeply questioned. In the 1960’s it was revealed that teenage girls, specifically unmarried mothers, were taken away from their homes and families and forced to work in the Swarovski factories attaching crystals from morning till night for no pay. In 2006 it was reported that the company used child labour in India to attach the crystals to it’s sari fabrics. The company currently supports the NRA, sponsors the pro-gun lobby in the USA and manufactures lenses for rifle scopes for hunting weapons. Source - Alux.com]