D. Swarovski
| D. Swarovski KG
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Limited partnership |
| founding | 1895 |
| Seat |
Wattens , Austria
|
| management | Markus Langes-Swarovski |
| Number of employees | 32,000 (2017) |
| sales | 3.5 billion euros (2017) |
| Branch | Crystal glass |
| Website | www.swarovski.com |
Swarovski is an Austrian manufacturer of cut crystal glass with global sales. The family business founded by Daniel Swarovski in 1895 is based in Wattens in Tyrol . The three limited partnerships D. Swarovski , Swarovski Optik and Tyrolit form a group of companies that turned over around three billion euros in 2012.
Swarovski produces in Tyrol , in the Principality of Liechtenstein ( Triesen ), in Serbia ( Subotica ), China , Thailand and India .
From approx. 1965 to 2002 Gernot Langes-Swarovski , who then handed over his agendas to his son Markus , was the managing partner.
history
The company was founded in 1895 by the glass cutter Daniel Swarovski , who comes from Georgenthal near Gablonz in northern Bohemia . At that time, cut crystal glass was still produced in small numbers by hand as a peasant sideline, the Gablonzer jewelry shop only emerged as a powerful branch of industry in Bohemia from the middle of the 19th century . To meet increasing demand, Daniel Swarovski developed a mechanical grinding machine, which he registered for a patent in Prague in 1892 .
Swarovski mechanically polished gemstones were of high quality and were greeted by a local and international jewelery market quickly absorbed as "gems of new quality", without displacing the traditional production. The market soon demanded ever larger quantities of this new quality, which could not be produced with the hydropower of just five horsepower available at the founding site. Since other companies tried to copy the production process, a new company location should not only have larger energy sources, but also be secluded. The 33-year-old inventor won his Parisian customer Armand Kosmann and his brother-in-law Franz Weis, who took part as a silent partner, to invest in such an expansion. For this reason, the name of the company, newly founded in 1895, was initially “A. Kosmann, Daniel Swarovski & Co ”, which was later changed to the brand name“ Swarovski ”that is used today.
A location search resulted in several potentially suitable new company locations in the Austrian Alps, and finally Swarovski decided on the Inntal municipality of Wattens , which lies at the mouth of the water-rich mountain stream Wattenbach . More decisive, however, was the abandoned Rhomberg cloth and loden factory - which was available in Wattens and can be rented cheaply - with an already existing hydropower plant with an output of 44 kW.
After the end of the five-year lease in Wattens, Swarovski threatened to emigrate, but in 1900 was finally able to acquire the Rhomberg factory and the associated water rights for 24,000 guilders. Swarovski then built the Ausserachen hydropower plant in Wattental (commissioned in 1906, output 603 kW). Later - now the councilor of Wattens - he built new company apartments for his workers in Swarovskistraße; He built his own home for his family with the "Villa Swarovski". Due to previous good business years, he was able to cope with all of these tasks by 1907.
In order to make himself independent from the Bohemian competition, Daniel Swarovski began in 1908 with attempts to manufacture raw glass in an outbuilding of his villa. His three sons Fritz, Alfred and Willi, who interrupted their studies for this purpose, provided confidential support for this project without experts. When his own glass melt was promising, he set up the so-called “laboratory” in the Wattner district of Au in 1910/11 and founded his own company under the name “Glasfabrik D. Swarovski”. His intention was to “A. Kosmann - D. Swarovski & Co “to continue his attempts to develop new production methods and to manufacture raw glass in-house. As early as 1913 he was able to supply the glass cutting shop in Oberdorf with raw glass and a little later it was possible to supply the required colors. The glass melt that was developed in-house at the time is still one of Swarovski's best-kept factory secrets today. The consequences of the Great Depression of 1929 made both companies difficult. In 1934 they led to the company “A. Kosmann - D. Swarovski & Co “had to close its doors. In 1935 it was leased by the company "Daniel Swarovski, Glasschleiferei und Tyrolit-Schleifmittelwerke", which made the main plant the new company's Plant II after production resumed.
After Austria was annexed to Nazi Germany in March 1938, the company relied on armaments production for the Wehrmacht : the manufacture of binoculars and optical glasses. Swarovski Optik will emerge from this in 1949. The Swarovski family, avowed National Socialists and already joined the NSDAP during the prohibition period , maintained good contact with Gauleiter Franz Hofer , who also supported the company in the competition against competitors from Bohemia. During the Second World War , the company was supplied with arms contracts. The company's workforce was under pressure to join the NSDAP even before 1938 due to the National Socialist sentiments of the Swarovski family. In 1943, due to the war situation, crystal production was banned. The history of the company during the Nazi era , the Swarovski family's closeness to National Socialism, the war profits and, in particular, the use of forced laborers have been investigated by the economic historian Dieter Stiefel since the beginning of 2011 . As early as 1994, the contemporary historian Horst Schreiber submitted a paper on The Swarovski Company in the Nazi era .
After the Second World War, the company made a name for itself in public in Austria with its eyeglass glass grinding shop and worldwide with precision optics products. The production of electrical insulation components started with Ferdinand Rojkowski was given up. The company's cash cow , the abrasives division, which was already important at the time , was not very well known. The lens production was sold to the French company Essilor in the 1990s , but the optical device product line was retained. Even today, riflescopes and binoculars from Swarovski are well-known products in the optical industry.
In 1960 the heirs of Armand Kosmann succeeded in buying the shares in Plant II in Wattner Oberdorf, which is still run as the "A. Kosmann - D. Swarovski & Co" glass grinding company. Plant I in Unterdorf and Plant II in Oberdorf became the unified company “D. Swarovski & Co ”summarized.
In 2012, allegations from former children in the home came to the public via the courier , according to which the company had brought underage children to the notorious Tyrolean educational institution St. Martin in Schwaz to do involuntary work at the end of the 1960s. The children in the home had to make crystal ribbons for around ten hours a day without being paid. It was about "piece work"; "Many girls would have had problems with their wrists," the former residents are quoted as saying.
Daniel Swarovski II, grandson of the company founder, started an extensive settlement program with company apartments for his workers. Following its philosophy of giving each employee their own house and garden, the company Daniel Swarovski acquired land in several Tyrolean communities, which the company made available to its employees for building in units of 1000 m² at low interest rates. Even today, extensive Tyrolean settlements with the street name "Swarovskistraße" testify to these activities. Daniel Swarovski II also wrote his own book on this. In 1963 the company received the state award and has since been allowed to use the federal coat of arms in business transactions.
In 1987, together with its Canadian partner Peoples Jewelery, Swarovski acquired the US jewelry chain Zale, which comprises thousands of stores. This transaction brought the company into major economic difficulties. In 1991 the US subsidiary had to file for bankruptcy with the equivalent of 1.1 billion euros in debt. The resulting losses burdened the consolidated balance sheet for many years.
Group of companies
The group of companies is owned by around two hundred family members. The largest single shareholder is Gernot Langes-Swarovski with 17%.
- Swarovski International Holding AG, Swarovski Ventures Ltd., Daniel Swarovski Corporation AG, Swarovski (Schweiz) AG, Männedorf / ZH, Switzerland
- Swarovski AG, Triesen, Liechtenstein
- Swarovski Crystal Online AG, Kaufbeuren
- Tyrolit Schleifmittelwerke Swarovski KG, Schwaz , Tyrol
- d. Swarovski tourism services GmbH, Wattens, Tyrol
- Swarovski Austria Vertriebsges.mbH & CO. KG, rum near Innsbruck, Tyrol
- Swarovski D & Co Crystal Architecture, Kolsass, Tyrol
- D. Swarovski & Co, Wattens, Tyrol
- Swareflex GmbH, Vomp, Tyrol
- Swarovski Optik Germany, Rosenheim
- Swarovski-Optik KG., Absam, Tyrol
- Swarovski France SA, Paris, France
- UAB Crystal Creations, Vilnius, Lithuania
There are other companies in Latin America , the USA , Canada and other European countries. The group has had its own specialty airline, Tyrolean Jet Services , since 1976 . Swarovski Entertainment has recently started making films. Swarovski operates around 1,000 mono-label stores for crystal glass and jewelry and also cooperates with around 1,000 franchisees.
Products
Competition policy
Swarovski operates a rigid warning policy with sellers (private and commercial) who do not clearly differentiate their products from the brand. In the past, these warnings were often sent by the law firm "Kanzlei Lorenz Seidler Gossel" and include injunctive relief or claims for damages due to trademark infringements. On behalf of Swarovski AG, the accusation is usually made that a piece of jewelry not manufactured by Swarovski was offered with the designation "Swarovski". The brand name "Swarovski" enjoys trademark protection. Those affected are accused of having used the brand name for products that only feature Swarovski elements. Swarovski has written its own brochure in which the correct use under trademark law is described.
Product lines
The products are divided into:
- Crystal jewelery stones and crystal components (trade name: "Crystallized - Swarovski Elements")
- Crystal sculptures and accessories with and made of crystal
- precision optical devices such as B. Binoculars , riflescopes and spotting scopes (Swarovski Optik)
- Abrasives , such as B. Grinding, dressing, cutting and polishing tools ( "TYROLIT" )
- synthetic gemstones (since April 2008 under the brand "Enlightened - Swarovski Elements", previously known as "Signity", until 1999 "Swarogem")
- Road marking buttons and reflectors made of glass ("Swareflex")
- self-illuminating road traffic control systems ("Swareflex")
- Traffic signs with LED lights ("Swareflex").
- Aura by Swarovski perfume
Jewelry products
In 1976 the business field crystal objects was started. After rather modest beginnings, crystal figures such as fruit or animal sculptures are now sold in their own shops or a depot distribution system by opticians, jewelers or souvenir shops. The marketing concept of the limited production of series is so effective that some crystal objects are collected and fan clubs are formed. This z. Associations, some of which are organized by the company itself, are offered their own series.
Semi-finished products
Swarovski not only manufactures products for end users, but also supplies rhinestones and luster stones to other manufacturers in the jewelry, fashion, lighting and interior design industries and glass reflectors for road construction. Austrian Post stamps from 2004, 2006 and 2008 also feature Swarovski crystals.
Merchandising
The perfume series Aura by Swarovski , developed in collaboration with the Clarins Fragrance Group, was launched on the market in 2011. In 2012 she received the Prix de Beauté in the design women category .
Every December, the company maintains a Christmas tree decorated with 5000 crystals in the Zurich station hall . At Christmas 2006 such a tree was also set up in Berlin Central Station . The big poinsettia on the Christmas tree in front of the Rockefeller Center in New York City is also sponsored by Swarovski.
Crystal worlds
To mark the company's centenary, the Museum Kristallwelten was opened in Wattens in 1995 as a tourist attraction . The opening and a redesign in 2005 were carried out by the Austrian artist André Heller . Meanwhile, an average of around 700,000 visitors visit the Crystal Worlds each year. At the beginning of October 2014 the Crystal Worlds were closed to expand the park. Since April 30, 2015, the Crystal Worlds on the area, which has been expanded from 3.5 to 7.5 hectares for 34 million euros.
Commitment to sustainability
The company's founder Daniel Swarovski was aware of the high energy requirements of his innovative mechanical glass production. While looking for an inexpensive and environmentally friendly energy source, he found what he was looking for in the Tyrolean Inntal municipality of Wattens. Wattens is at the exit of the extensive Wattental valley . Due to the large catchment area of the Wattenbach (around 75 km²), its water power is productive. Daniel Swarovski first used a small existing hydropower plant for glass production and also experimented with a small run-of-river power plant on the Inn River . Due to the success of the grinding shop, a hydropower plant on the Wattenbach could be expanded intensively; This expansion also made it possible for the rural population of Wattens and Wattenberg to be supplied with electrical light for the first time, which enabled Swarovski employees to obtain cheap electrical energy from their employer. Today, Swarovski has extensive water rights to the Wattenbach and operates four of its own hydroelectric power stations on it, as well as a fifth together with cotton wool . A deep water storage in the Wattner district Vögelsberg enables a short-term autonomous island operation for the emergency power supply of the Swarovskiwerk in Wattens.
Swarovski operates wastewater treatment plants at its production sites, in which the glass grinding dust is removed from the industrial wastewater and returned to glass production.
The sponsorship also focuses on water, so the Hohe Tauern National Park and a national park in India are supported by a water supply.
Awards
Swarovski optics:
- 1992/93 with Werner Hölbl : State award design for binoculars Habicht SLC
Jewellery:
- 2013 Vienna Fashion Award in the Tribute to Fashion and Lifestyle category
literature
- Konrad Fichtl (Red.): Wattner book: Contributions to local history from Wattens, Wattenberg and Vögelsberg ( Schlern-Schriften, edited by R. Klebelsberg, Volume 165). Wagner University Press, Innsbruck 1958.
- Kühschelm, Oliver: Swarovski. Austrian “multi” and Tyrolean “world brand” . In: Brix, Emil; Bruckmüller, Ernst; Stekl Hannes (Ed.): Memoria Austriae III - Entrepreneurs, Companies, Products . Verlag für Geschichte und Politik, Vienna 2005. pp. 131–168, ISBN 3-7028-0419-6 .
- Jesko Dahlmann: Innovative entrepreneurship in the sense of Schumpeter: theory and economic history. Metropolis Verlag, Marburg 2017, pp. 386–451, ISBN 3-7316-1313-1 .
Web links
See also
- Swarco Holding - manufacturer of reflective beads and traffic light systems, Austria
- Swarco Traffic Holding - traffic telematics, holding company, Munich
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Swarovskis: Why the billion-dollar clan is divided . News . November 7, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
- ↑ Swarovski expands production in Serbia . In: Der Standard , September 3, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- ↑ Wirtschaftsblatt Nov. 2000 ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ T-Online Portrait, source APA ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ The history of Swarovski - 1895 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( Adobe Flash required)
- ↑ T-Online Portrait, source APA ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ ECHO: The stale sheen of the empire (July 2009) .
- ^ A b Horst Schreiber : Economic and social history of the Nazi era in Tyrol , Innsbruck 1994 (History & Economy 3); The Swarovski company during the Nazi era ( Memento of the original dated November 14, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ^ Nazi regime: The rich legacy of a dark time , diepresse.com, accessed on October 2, 2011.
- ↑ In 1949, the Steka-Werke, the Tiroler Steatit - und Keramikwerke Rojkowski & Co. KG, for the production of components made of high-frequency ceramics and electro- porcelain were established .
- ↑ ORF.at, August 15, 2012: Swarovski let home children work piecework and Tirol.ORF.at: Unpaid work for home children?
- ↑ A family's worldwide glittering network ( Memento from April 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), WirtschaftsBlatt , December 2, 2003
- ↑ DaWanda GmbH: Forum - Archive - Jewelry manufacturer Acute ABMAHNGEFAHR! READ!!!! - DaWanda. In: de.dawanda.com. Retrieved December 4, 2016 .
- ↑ Have you received a warning about Swarovski? In: Specialist lawyer for IT law / data protection law in Hanover: IT security law, warning. April 7, 2016 ( recht-freund.de [accessed December 4, 2016]).
- ↑ Another warning from Swarovski AG regarding the “SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS” and “Swarovski” brands. In: Schuster law firm. Retrieved December 4, 2016 .
- ↑ Another warning from Swarovski AG regarding the “SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS” and “Swarovski” brands. In: Schuster law firm. Retrieved December 4, 2016 .
- ↑ Swarovski - visual identity. 2010, accessed December 4, 2016 (d).
- ^ Rights Protection Cooperation Program. In: poznaj.allegro.pl. Retrieved December 4, 2016 .
- ↑ Swarovski crystals are now also sparkling on the stamp pad of the Austrian Post, message on Post.at from September 20, 2004 ( memento from November 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Perfumery news Clarins and Swarovski present: Aura by Swarovski ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Prix de Beauté winner 2012
- ↑ Swarovski Crystal Worlds expand until May 2015 , website of the Reise EXCLUSIV magazine, accessed on December 2, 2014.
- ↑ 120 years of Swarovski - a glamorous dinner , ORF.at, April 29, 2015. Accessed April 30, 2015.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from November 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. PROFILE: Crystal Worlds. Swarovskis are the Rockefellers of our republic
Coordinates: 47 ° 17 ′ 43.6 " N , 11 ° 35 ′ 51.3" E