Red Nymph Jewelry
Among all the business units of the Swarovski Group, the Crystal Division is the most profitable, with an annual revenue of 2.6 billion euros. Swarovski crystals are beautiful, shiny and durable, so this is not surprising. However, they are also affordable, especially compared to diamonds.
To what extent does Swarovski crystals mimic diamonds? Remember the song that Marilyn Monroe sang in the movie Gentleman Prefer Blondes? In that scene, she No drop of real diamonds, but Swarovski crystals!
If you want to know what gives Swarovski crystals a special sheen, read on. Here’s everything you need to know about Austrian gems, and why they are a cost-effective alternative to gems.
Popular Diamond
The creation of the Swarovski brand began with a person’s vision – Daniel Swarovski. He was born in what was then called Bohemian (now the Czech Republic). Swarovski is the son of a glass cutter who inherited his father’s skills.
He invented and applied for a patent for an electric cutter that cuts glass shards very accurately. These artificial gemstones also shimmer like crazy. Swarovski’s dream is to “create a diamond for everyone” – this is an innovative product that is affordable but still beautiful.
In 1892, Swarovski established its own crystal factory in Wattens, Austria. This company is still there today. He chose this area because the nearby alpine rivers provided hydropower for his new crystal cutter.
How is Swarovski crystal made?
In fact, no one knows for sure how Swarovski crystals are made. This is a protected company secret that lives with the five generations of the Swarovski family. These family members are still running this business.
What we know is that Swarovski makes glass from a mixture of quartz sand, red dan and sodium carbonate. These materials are heated to very high temperatures so they melt together. But the most important part of the company may be its added potash.
Potassium is an organic plant ash rich in potassium. Bohemia, the hometown of Daniel Swarovski, added potassium carbonate to the chalk soil and revolutionized the glass industry. The result is a plastic clear glass that can be easily formed.
Special Coating
In addition to the coveted cutting technology, Swarovski has developed a metal chemical coating that adds special features to its crystal. The most famous of these was introduced in 1955. That year, the company worked with the famous design company Christian Dior to create a more spectacular crystal.
It is called the Northern Lights effect, after changing the color of the Northern Lights. The result is a jewel of colorful brilliance that shines from any angle in every color of the rainbow. Until today, it is still a very popular crystal produced by the company.
Swarovski Jewelry
Today, this company produces a wide variety of jewelry. You will find earrings, necklaces, bracelets, brooches, rings and more. Men’s collections include watches, cufflinks, bracelets and pendants.
Swarovski’s product line has expanded over the past few decades. They sell holiday decorations, figurines, sunglasses, phone booths, and even hair accessories decorated with crystal.
Swarovski collaborates with many fashion designers, including Alexander McQueen, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Chanel. Swarovski is the only company that can make custom jewellery for dresses and gemstones.
Affordable luxury
Swarovski jewellery has a wide range of prices and most products are affordable. Their dazzling light and ability to capture light make it difficult to distinguish them from diamonds.
Swarovski crystals can also mimic gems such as emeralds, rubies and sapphires. Whether it’s a delicate necklace with white t-shirts and jeans, or a thick black dress, their jewelry always looks great.
If you want to save money, but still want eye-catching jewelry, Swarovski crystal jewelry will never go wrong. The company is also keeping up with the latest fashion trends by constantly releasing new designs.
Caring for your Swarovski crystal jewelry
Swarovski jewelry may be cheaper than fine jewelry, but still need to be careful. Following these recommendations, your jewelry will remain in good wear for the next few years.
Always remove Swarovski jewelry before showering and washing. Soaps and detergents that contain irritating chemicals can damage surfaces and settings. Avoid skin moisturizers, oils and cosmetics.
You can also clean Swarovski crystal jewellery with a mild detergent, a soft toothbrush and warm water. Wash with water and dry with a soft towel or cloth.
When you don’t wear Swarovski jewelry, put it in a box or compartment designed for jewelry. Or if you saved the original packaging, put it back in the original packaging.
First of all, I should provide a disclaimer here: I think Swarovski crystals are some of the stupidest objects in the known universe. I don’t have anything against crystalline or sparkly things in general, really, but the usual use of Swarovski crystals is to just slather them over some object to magically make them “luxury.” Like those goofy cell phones that are two generations or more behind technologically, but you can’t tell because they’re so slathered in crystals you can’t tell what’s what.
These new headlights, which everyone is referring to as Swarovski Crystal headlights, aren’t really Swarovski crystal lights, whatever that means. The headlight units are absolutely crammed with Swarovski crystals, that’s for damn sure, but those crystals have nothing to do with the light production or focusing of the lights.
The crystals are doing two primary things: reflecting and refracting ambient light in ways that we’ve culturally become trained to identify with wealth and luxury, and refracting the light generated by arrays of LEDs that act as the daytime running lights and turn indicators of the car. The headlights are not affected by the crystals at all.
The reason the headlights aren’t bedazzled with Swarovski crystals is that, unlike the light from the daytime running lights and turn indicators, the light from headlights needs to be used to see things in the dark as opposed to just being seen in the dark.
So, even though everyone calls the light units Swarovski Crystal Headlamps, they’re not really that. Yes, the headlight unit is crammed full of all those crystals, and those crystals are being illuminated by the orange indicator light and the white LED daytime running lights, but not the actual headlights. For good reason.
Crystals are great at reflecting and refracting light, but they’re awful for directing light in the sort of controlled patterns that modern headlight regulations demand. Using Swarovski crystals as lenses for lights as bright as headlights would probably give you some lovely disco-ball effects and lots of lovely little spectra everywhere and may attract unicorns and pixies, but they would seriously suck at letting you see down a dark road.
The Swarovski company does have a Swarovski Optik subsidiary that probably is capable of producing effective headlight lenses, but that’s not what’s being used here. The Swarovski company also has a division for industrial bonded abrasives and sawing and drilling machinery, but I’m not sure if any of those products are included on the new S-Class, either. Maybe in the tool kit.
While we’re talking about other stuff Swarovski owns, check out this terrifying “centerpiece” to the Swarovski Kristallwelten crystal-based theme park. Enjoy staring at that giant drooling green foliage-face with your Swarovski headlights that don’t really exist, Mercedes.