The history of Swarovski goes back to 1895 when, after inventing the world’s first electric grinding machine for jewellery stones, Daniel Swarovski established his still family-owned company in the province of Tyrol, Austria. Since then, the name Swarovski has become a global synonym for crystal jewellery. In 1935, Wilhelm Swarovski, an avid hobby astronomer & naturalist, used the company's expertise in cutting glass & crystals to build his own, improved pair of binoculars, developing a novel prism fabrication and grinding process. Wilhelm went on to found Swarovski Optik in Absam, Tyrol, in 1949, thus laying the foundation for a precision optics company with a global reputation. The company’s first Habicht 7x42 binoculars are still an industry standard.
Today, Carina Schiestl-Swarovski, chairwoman of the Swarovski Optik executive board, sums up the company’s respectful and sustainable way of dealing with nature: “Our aim is always to work with nature and the environment, because this forms the basis for the use of our products. Biodiversity and wildlife conservation are important in their own right, but they also help our customers to enjoy breathtaking, unforgettable visual experiences.”
Swarovski Optik is certified to ISO-14001 standard, which means that state of the art impact-reducing environmental technologies are applied throughout production. Beyond this it is Swarovski Optik's mission and policy continuously to improve its environmental impacts to keep them as low as possible or to prevent them completely where possible.
But Swarovski Optik’s appreciation and respectful way of dealing with nature goes beyond environmentally compatible production techniques and ISO-14001 certification and extends to supporting species protection and nature conservation projects all over the world. Biosphere Expeditions is a very important part of this commitment towards conservation and Swarovski Optik is proud to be supporting their wildlife conservation efforts all over the globe.
Dr. Matthias Hammer, founder & Managing Director of Biosphere Expeditions, says "we are
delighted to be part of Swarovski Optik's travel & nature sponsorship programme. In Swarovski Optik we have found an excellent Global Partner with an exemplary
corporate conscience. Swarovski Optik is crucial in reducing our running and
expedition costs by providing funding and equipment such as Swarovski binoculars, telescopes, range finders, image intensifier and optronic devices, so that we can divert more much-needed funds into local
projects and people. Swarovski Optik's support also enables us to take our
conservation expeditions to some of the most inhospitable and
inaccessible places on Earth, and to support local scientists and
conservation efforts with much needed and often invaluable optical devices."
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