Topic: swarvorski barrel paperweight

[Cazza]

Please can anyone tell me anything about these i have one it has the Swarvorski label SC it looks a pinkish purple colour.
thanks

[TxSilver]

Swarovski made some barrels in the late 1980s. There are a couple listed at http://www.crystalexchange.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc -- a Bermuda blue and a vitral medium (whatever color this is). The table has the numbers for them and the prices. You need to put "barrel" into the search engine. Unfortunately, there is no picture, but the numbers will help to track the design. Very good find!

[Cazza]

Many thanks TxSilver, I am still puzzled as to what the colour would be called from a distance looking straight at the weight it looks green, when you look down inside it it is this pinkish purple.Do you know how they made them in different colours? I cannot post a picture as i am using someone elses computer at the moment and they do not have a picture editing programme, my pics are too big.
thanks for you help so far.

[KevinH]

Do you know how they made them in different colours?

After looking at a couple of examples on eBay UK, I believe the colour of the "Barrel" paperweights is simply achieved by using a thin layer of the colour as a base and allowing the refraction of light, through the shaping and faceting of the clear "crystal", to achieve differing effects according to the angle of view. When looking straight down through the top, the main colour will be seen. When looking at an angle, the main colour will appear "weaker". When looking through the side directly, the main colour may only appear as a "watery" effect near the base.

A search in the Board for "swarovski" will pick up at least one thread where the composition of the material used has been discussed. Some folk would argue that the material used by Swarovski is not glass and that may partly explain why there is little discussion anywhere in this Board about those items.

[TxSilver]

KevH, was the post about the paste beads used in jewelry? I don't know anything about their jewelry, so can't offer anything useful about it. I do know a good bit about their figurines. Swarovksi crystal used in figurines is 32% lead crystal. I'll have to check to see if it is made in any way that would disqualify it as glass. I have personally always considered it a very good quality glass with a high lead content. I have a couple of hundred Swarovski silver crystal animals. They are awesomely beautiful, particularly when light hits them.

[TxSilver]

I checked eBay for Swarovski barrels. There is a Bermuda Blue one listed if you want to check the design (eBay no. 110372036781). I also checked to see what color vitrail medium might be. It is also called peacock and has an assortment of colors. There are some vitrail medium Swarovski paperweights listed on eBay. You can see the effect by putting the words in the search engine. From what you wrote, it sounds like VM may be what you have.

[Cazza]

Many thanks to you all I shall go and check these out.

[KevinH]

KevH, was the post about the paste beads used in jewelry? I don't know anything about their jewelry, so can't offer anything useful about it. I do know a good bit about their figurines. Swarovksi crystal used in figurines is 32% lead crystal. ...

The discussion I was thinking about was within this thread: Maybe Silly - Bud Vase with (swarovski) crystal??
And also: Exclusive Glass nail files with Swarovski components

Oh yes, and this one was interesting, too: When did Swarovski stop being just trinket ware?

If Swarovski produced their figurines in 32% lead crystal glass, then perhaps they also used the same material for their paperweights? (And maybe I should not be so personally dismissive of some of their products?) But as I said, when I asked via their website about the material(s) used, the reply was not very helpful.

I can see that some of the paperweights ("barrels" etc.) are offered for sale at prices that could secure a good 1930s Ysart paperweight - and that is something that has surprised me!!

[TxSilver]

My love of the crystal is made richer by the history of the company during the two great wars last century. If you get a chance, KevH, read about Swarovski and Reidel Crystal in the time of Stalin. It is a powerful story. Walter Reidel was taken prisoner for ten years by Stalin and the Bohemian Reidel glassworks were seized by the state. The Swarovski family gave Walter money to set up a glassworks in Austria. I love a company that shows it has heart.  The stories of glassworks tell the history of central Europe during these mighty tough years.

Swarovski is considered superior lead crystal because of its near perfect transparency and internal fire. I have one peacock that look like a fire of color even in low light -- and no color is added to the crystal to achieve the effect. It is all done with the properties of light. It is the beauty of the Swarovski crystal.