Swarovski

Swarovski was founded in Wattens, Austria in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski, a Bohemian glass cutter who developed a machine for cutting and polishing crystal with a precision that manual cutting could not match. The machine produced crystals with the facet angles that maximize the refraction and reflection of light, which is the optical property that makes high-quality cut crystal distinct from ordinary glass. The company has been family-owned for five generations and remains headquartered in Wattens, where the original production began.

The Georgetown store at 1238 Wisconsin Avenue NW carries the current Swarovski jewelry and home decoration range. The jewelry is the primary offering at the retail level: earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings that use Swarovski’s precision-cut crystals in the settings and designs that the brand produces each season. The earring category is the volume driver in most Swarovski retail environments; the sparkle that Swarovski crystals produce at the earring scale is the most consistent product expression of the brand’s core optical property.

The brand’s historical use in fashion is extensive. Coco Chanel was an early collaborator, using Swarovski crystals in her jewelry designs in the 1930s. The Academy Awards connection, through which Swarovski crystals have appeared in the gowns and jewelry worn by winners and presenters for decades, is the cultural moment most often cited in the brand’s history. Christian Louboutin used Swarovski crystals on shoes. The brand has been a component of the fashion world’s surface decoration vocabulary for more than a century.

The home decoration and gift category, which includes the iconic crystal figurines that have been collected since the first piece appeared in 1976, provides a secondary product line for the gift buyer who wants a Swarovski piece for a specific occasion. The annual Christmas ornament series and the limited edition pieces that the brand releases have developed their own collector base.

The Wisconsin Avenue location at 1238 is on the boutique corridor. Hours run from 10am Monday through Saturday and 11am Sunday, with Friday and Saturday closing at 8pm. The Swarovski crystal factory in Wattens, Austria includes the Swarovski Crystal Worlds attraction that has been one of Austria’s most visited tourist sites since its opening in 1995. The production facility and the public-facing museum and garden complex reflect the brand’s position as both an industrial manufacturer and a cultural brand. For the Georgetown customer who wants a gift that carries international brand recognition and a clear quality standard, the Swarovski jewelry and crystal figures provide a reliable choice in the $50-$500 range. The Wisconsin Avenue store at 1238 is accessible from the boutique corridor and the Circulator. Hours run from 10am Monday through Saturday and 11am Sunday. The annual Swarovski Christmas ornament, which has been a collector category since the first ornament was released in the 1980s, is among the gift-purchase categories that drive traffic to the Wisconsin Avenue store in the holiday months. For the Georgetown customer who has a collection of annual ornaments, the Wisconsin Avenue store is the local address for each year’s addition. The store’s gift wrapping service is available for holiday purchases.