All About Swarovski

Swarovski was founded in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski I. It has since developed into an international entity with numerous subsidiaries and is currently in the process of reorganizing its North American activities, as well as preparing to increase its presence on the Internet. In addition, Swarovski is also adding their own retail stores throughout the United States and Canada. Approximately, 40 new stores should be in place by 2001. Swarovski has about 9200 employees, and it has remained a privately owned family business since its inception. I have heard some "rumors" that they are considering going "public", but that is all they are, just rumors.

Note: Correct Pronunciation of the family name is: Swore Off Ski

Swarovski is renowned worldwide for manufacturing crystal "products of precision" in many different forms, sizes, and shapes, paying close attention to detail, in an effort to present the best in the cutting, clarity, and brilliance of their crystal products.

Swarovski attributes their success to the "tireless pursuit of perfection" in their production process.

The Swarovski Crystal range includes crystal glass sculptures and miniatures, jewelry and couture, home decor, and chandeliers.

All sculptures are marked with a logo. The original Swarovski logo was an edelweiss flower, which was replaced by a "S.A.L." logo, which was finally replaced with the current swan logo in 1988.^[7] The swan logo is being phased out in favor of simply the Swarovski name, as the brother of the last director Asteles Barres has begun to use a variant of the swan for his crystal company in Barcelona and appears to have some prior claim.

To create crystal glass that lets light refract in a rainbow spectrum, Swarovski coats some of its products with special metallic chemical coatings. Aurora Borealis, or "AB", is one of the most popular coatings, and gives the surface a rainbow appearance.^[8] Other coatings are named by the company, 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 also 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).

The company runs a crystal-themed indoor theme park, Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal Worlds) at its original Wattens site (near Innsbruck,Tyrol, Austria). The Crystal Worlds centre is fronted by a grass-covered head, the mouth of which is a fountain. The grass-covered Crystal Worlds houses exhibitions related to, or inspired by, the crystals — but do not include explanations of how the famous designs are made, produced or finished.