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SWAROVSKI is a name
that denotes high quality and has for many decades. They started their line
of jewelry in 1977 but long before that, in the late 1880s, they were
famous for their innovative crystal cutting techniques. They were
pioneers of high quality, high lead content crystals whose brilliance
and clarity was unmatched, and they were respected
for their crystal lenses, ornaments and rhinestones. They had an established
name long before they ever made a single piece
of finished jewelry.
Daniel Swarovski was the founder of the company and he was born in
Northern Bohemia in 1862. It was a large jewelry center at that time,
but in about 1895 he moved to Austria, where the company headquarters
remains today. The 4th and 5th generation of the family still runs the
company, and the quality is still unsurpassed. Beginning in about 1977
they started their line of costume jewelry. By 1989 their maker’s mark
was the Swarovski swan logo. Just below these paragraphs you can see some of the jewelry marks that were used over the years.
"SAL" was another earlier Swarovski jewelry mark, along with the
Edelweiss flower which was used from 1977-1988. Those two marks were on the
jewelry itself. The
Daniel Swarovski line started in 1989 and it includes accessories such
as hand bags, too. The earlier "DSCo" is not to
be confused with the later "Daniel Swarovski" high end lines.
From the late 1980s to about 2000 they also made jewelry with the
"SAVVY" name, which was a smaller scale and lower priced line. The
"Savvy" pieces were often marked with the swan logo though, and the name
"Savvy" was seen only on earring cards or tags and not on the jewelry
itself, as far as I can remember.
In the Mary Morrison book "Christmas Jewelry" there
is a paragraph on
Swarovski that says they "offered two lines of Christmas jewelry: The
Jeweler’s Collection… through department stores since about 1980, and the
newer Signature Collection… in boutiques since 1994." I don’t know the
source of her information though.
My dear friend Trudy introduced me to Swarovski jewelry years ago.
I can remember standing in front of their cases in Saks, Neiman’s and
Nordstrom and just marveling at the quality and brilliance of all the
pieces. I have some treasured pieces in my own collection, mementos of
some of the high spots in my life. Another respected friend and jewelry
researcher, Elizabeth, has helped me research the marks and when they
were used, for which I am so grateful. But I am always seeking more
information. I would like to understand more about the Daniel Swarovski
Couture line, for instance, when exactly it was made and what jewelry
pieces it included. I would also like to have the names of some of their
other series and which pieces were included in them.
Some of my favorite
Swarovski jewelry was made in the 1990s when their larger and more colorful
pieces were made. Morning Glory was a Swarovski dealer for several years
back then, as well as representing Ciner jewelry. A Swarovski flyer from
the 1990s states, "… we insist on crafting every piece of
jewelry by hand… it must first pass from hand to hand through a long
and rigorous process… featuring brilliant Austrian crystals… each
piece in the collection is hand polished front and back." According
to the company, every one of their jewelry pieces is marked without exception. Until early 2006, Swarovski sold their jewelry in better department
stores and boutiques. After that they opened their own stores, which
still thrive today.
Do beware of fakes and buy from a knowledgeable dealer. There was at
least one Asian company making copies of Swarovski pieces from the late 1990s, but while there were decent copies, the ones I
saw were not signed. There are also Christmas tree brooches made to look
like Swarovski trees and made in Asia, but again, not signed and in
this case considerably lower in
quality of both the stones and the mounts.
Swarovski has had a lot of irons in the fire over the years, also working with
other well-known artists and designers. In 2014 Atelier Swarovski introduced their first
fine jewelry collection of one-of-a-kind pieces with Swarovski gem
stones set in 18k gold. There are some spectacular pieces for sure!
Women’s Wear Daily, April 2014, shows some of them
HERE.
NOTE: The dates here below are as close to
accurate as I can make them using both my notes as a Swarovski dealer in
the 1990s and Swarovski publications.
If you would like to PURCHASE Swarovski jewelry please click
HERE.
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