Press Centre
Crystal Enlightenment
Timelessly modern, rich in heritage, Swarovski crystal has captured the mood of the moment to become an essential ingredient in contemporary design. Light-filled, prismatic and dramatic, STRASS® Swarovski® Crystal is now the first choice for international lighting designers, both traditional and contemporary. Startling, state-of-the-art lighting systems, like the scintillating Crystal StarLED, a crystal starry sky with LED technology, open up a world of versatility and freedom. The extraordinary qualities of crystal as a creative material in its own right fire the imaginations of architects and interior designers around the world.
A Universe of Crystal
The core production of crystal elements, reflecting a perfect fusion of artistry and technology, lies at the heart of Swarovski’s activities. Every day, the perfect, precision-cut crystals produced in the quiet Austrian village of Wattens, where the company was founded in 1895, are sent all around the world to be used by designers and manufacturers in a broad range of design-driven industries. Today, as the appeal of crystal broadens, Swarovski’s involvement with lighting, architecture and interiors is strengthening. Now is dedicated to supply and collaborate with the architectural design community.
STRASS® Swarovski® Crystal - The Brand
Swarovski started making crystal elements for lighting in 1965, and STRASS was registered as a brand name in 1976. Bearing all the hallmarks of Swarovski crystal, STRASS® Swarovski® Crystal traditional chandelier elements are immaculately precision-cut and polished, producing perfect symmetry and consistency, and a unique dust-resistant surface that never loses its brilliance. Processed from the highest quality materials, the chandelier elements possess a purity and clarity that guarantee the ideal dispersion and refraction of light, and radiate an exceptional brilliance, unrivalled in the industry. Today, as a guarantee of quality and a sign of Swarovski’s dedication to perfection, the chandelier components are laser engraved with the STRASS signature. The logo appears on STRASS certificates, the labels found on chandeliers that are composed of 100% STRASS® Swarovski® Crystal. This is a mark of quality and a reassurance for the customer, that the ingredient elements of their chandelier are the finest they can buy.
Partnershops
In 2004, Swarovski embarked on a global initiative, in which the company works hand in hand with carefully selected lighting retailers, now numbering over 140 worldwide, including the Crystal Gallery in Innsbruck and Crystal Worlds, Swarovski’s own multi media playground, in Wattens. In any of the stores within the Partnershop network, customers can be sure of finding expert advice from specially trained staff.
Celebrated Chandeliers
Swarovski’s world-famous chandelier elements now grace some of the world’s most spectacular chandeliers, from breathtaking cutting-edge creations by designers like Ron Arad, Ingo Maurer and Tom Dixon, to historic chandeliers in the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, and in Louis XIV’s bedchamber in the Palace of Versailles. A total of 1002 fairytale chandeliers with STRASS® Swarovski® Crystal guide guests through the luxury Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, while the largest crystal chandelier in the world hangs in the Sultan Quaboos Grand Mosque in Oman. It is decorated with more than 600,000 STRASS Swarovski Crystal elements and is 14 metres high. In 2004, STRASS® Swarovski® Crystal played a leading part in the film version of Phantom of the Opera, when Swarovski created the magnificent chandelier of the Paris Opera Populaire.
Crystal Palace
Reflecting the mission of its founder, Daniel Swarovski I, to continually improve on what has gone before, Swarovski has initiated directional design projects within the world of lighting and architecture, notably the Crystal Palace Collection, aimed at reinventing the chandelier for a new age. Under the direction of Nadja Swarovski-Adams, the Crystal Palace project has revolutionised the industry, breaking the mould of the traditional chandelier by commissioning breathtaking creations from internationally renowned designers including Tord Boontje, Karim Rashid, Andrée Putman, Georg Baldele, Chris Levine, Yves Béhar, Marcel Wanders, and even musician Lenny Kravitz. Pushing boundaries both of design and technical prowess, these individual and provocative interpretations, both organic and futuristic, raise the contemporary chandelier onto the level of an art form. Swarovski continues to expand the scope of Crystal Palace, and by popular demand, commissions new collections each year, inviting cutting edge designers to bring their visions to light. An acclaimed international success, the Crystal Palace collection is shown at events and exhibitions across the world, including the Salone de Mobile, Milan and Art Basel in Miami.
Light up your life
Following the success of STRASS® Swarovski® Crystal, and the growth of the company’s creative partnerships with lighting designers, Swarovski began to develop contemporary lighting systems that now combine the latest technology, such as fibre optics and LEDs, with the emotionally-charged, mood-enhancing qualities of cut crystal, a perfect blend of function and beauty. These state-of-the-art lighting solutions, including the celebrated twinkling Crystal StarLED, like a starry night-sky, downlights and recessed spotlights, or illuminated crystal panels, open up a world of versatility and freedom of artistic expression.
Illuminating Ideas
Understanding that crystal brings luxury and an air of optimism and abundance into everyday lives, Swarovski continually explores new concepts and applications for crystal at sophisticated spaces. Equally versatile and mood-enhancing, Swarovski Crystal Panels are customized but light-objects used on wall-coverings, ceilings and with signage and lettering. Capable of changing the atmosphere of a room, heightening drama, enlarging spaces, Crystal Panels can be used in conjunction with mirrors to play with the optical effects of infinite reflections, intensifying the feeling of light and space. Swarovski offers a design and planning service for the application and customisation of Crystal Panels, which are illuminated by daylight of artificial light sources.
The Swarovski Bathroom made by Kludi
In 2005 Swarovski joined forces with Kludi, makers of fine bathroom fittings, to create the first holistic crystal bathroom, a total architectural concept revolving around the qualities of crystal, its potential to imbue a personal space with a life-enhancing, dreamlike light and warmth. The result is the “Swarovski bathroom made by Kludi”, in which crystal interacts with other materials, like granite, wood, limestone, and with light and water, to create a haven of harmony and reflections. The bathrooms are fitted with crystal vanity and shower units, crystal wall and floor coverings, lighting systems and chandeliers.
Mozart by Swarovski
Swarovski pays homage to the work of the great Austrian composer by building a 200 square metre crystal installation for Salzburg’s rebuilt opera house “Haus für Mozart”. The Mozart crystal wall creates a shimmering metamorphic vision of Mozart and the most important people of his life. Using a captivating play of light and shade, the gleam from 82 individually adjustable spotlights hits the four layers of 35.000 crystals from different angles. The image shifts subtly from light to dark, appearing and disappearing before your eyes, a perfect portrayal of the enigmatic, multi-faceted personality of Mozart, mischievous child, prodigy, inspired composer, lover and husband.
Rockefeller
In New York, since 2004, Swarovski has provided the crystal star that traditionally tops the world famous Christmas Tree at the Rockefeller Center. Now, cementing this partnership, Swarovski crystal plays an integral part in the Rockefeller Center’s newly refurbished observation decks, Top of the Rock. Architect Michael Gabellini worked closely with Swarovski to add bespoke crystal features and two crystal works of art, “Radiance”, a massive crystal geode wall, and Joie, a STRASS® Swarovski® Crystal waterfall chandelier named “Joie”.
Winterwonderland
In Spring 2006, Swarovski commissioned acclaimed international Dutch-born designer Tord Boontje to create Winter Wonderland, a poetic winter mountain landscape, made entirely of crystal, to be shown for three years at the Swarovski Crystal Gallery in Innsbruck. The exhibition highlights the infinite possibilities of crystal, especially its ability to depict organic themes, and illustrates the deep affinity with the natural world by both Boontje and Swarovski. Shining with the light of infinite possibilities, Swarovski crystal points the way forward to a new age of enlightenment. Crystal comes home.
