Swarovski Fine Jewelry Debuts

Swarovski traces its history back to 1892 when Daniel Swartz (later Daniel Swarovski) patented a specific way to cut glass. This allowed him to produce crystal glass, and the rest as they say is history. Today, Swarovski is known world-wide for their quality crystal products. Most will know them for their beautiful crystal figurines, but Swarovski produces much more than that.

Swarovski has companies that produce everything from cutting blades and grinding wheels to optics. They make chandeliers and they produce road safety products. Swarovski is into fragrances and even has their own museum. A new 2015 Mercedes S-Class Coupe even has the option of having Swarovski crystal accented head lamps, with 17 angular crystals implemented into the daytime running lamps, and another 30 round crystals forming the turn signal lights. It is a very large company that employs almost 25,000 total employees.

Now, the company has announced that for the first time ever, it will be producing fine jewelry that will debut with a fall 2014 collection. The collection was first shown in New York back in April. The appropriately title Jeweled Garden Collection features 15 bold garden themed designs using thousands of colorful Swarovski cut gemstones. Butterflies and spiders seem to be favorite elements in the jewelry collection that was designed by Matthew Campbell Laurenza. Pieces in the fine jewelry collection range in price from $8,750 to $118,000.

The sculptor turned jewelry designer also created 15 large fauna and flora sculptures that some have called “outlandish”. They all include bold and colorful gemstones from Swarovski, put together in creative fashion. The wild sculptures, that include a three foot wide spider made of some 30,000 black spinels and almost 400 red topazes, sell for up to $275,000.

Laurenza is said to have been working on creating the collection for over three years. Each piece was handmade, as was each setting. A team of craftsmen worked with the designer, who had hand-picked the specific colors from Swarovski’s extensive gemstone collection.

These are not pieces for the timid. The rings project outward from their settings significantly and could do some serious damage with a clenched fist. Necklaces are far from understated, and appear to be of significant weight.

Swarovski may be a 120 year old company, but they have certainly kept themselves current and relevant. In 2004 the company created the giant 9-foot, 550-pound snowflake that sits atop the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York. They also were a part of the 2004 Phantom of the Opera film, creating the huge opera house chandelier. Michael Jackson wore costumes adorned with Swarovski crystals and as was mentioned earlier, Mercedes is even using their crystals in their lighting.

If the bold designs of the Swarovski 2014 Garden Collection or their associated sculptures are not your cup of tea, consider other clear crystal pieces from the company. You can tell they are genuine Swarovski if they contain one of the trademarks they have used through the years. Those logos have included an edelweiss flower, an S.A.L. logo, and the swan logo that was adopted in 1988 and is still in use today.