Penelope Cruz launches Swarovski jewelry collection

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
May 10, 2018

Penelope Cruz opened Cannes this season, and managed to unveil her first jewelry collection, naming part of it after her daughter.

 
Cruz and husband Javier Bardem were the star attractions on Tuesday night, when they took to the red carpet for the opening film, Everybody Knows by Asghar Farhadi, the Iranian director who has won two best foreign film Oscars.
 
Bardem and Cruz, who rarely work together, have two children, including a four-year-old daughter Luna.

“I was happy to name these designs after someone who is so precious to me, my daughter Luna,” said Cruz. In her debut collection of 21 pieces, one third reference the shape of the moon, understandably given the meaning of Luna.
 
Cruz dreamed up two other themes for the partnership with Swarovski Atelier, sapphire and ruby, though all of them are made of created – and not mined – gemstones.
 
The actress developed the collection in Madrid in tandem with Swarovski, showing them pieces by other noted jewelry brands from her own personal collection that she wanted interpreted in very personal ways.
 
Though Swarovski is the world’s leading crystal maker for the fashion industry, its top Swarovski Atelier now incorporates diamonds, gold and classical jewelry stones, albeit many of them made creatively, and not mined.
 
Cruz actually unveiled the first looks on the opening red carpet – ruby red and Fairtrade 18-karat gold earrings and ring. The gold comes from an artisanal mine in Peru so as to incorporate responsibly sourced gold.
 
“Quite frankly, I am honored to be working with Swarovski and delighted with the way they have realized by ideas,” said Cruz, at a lunch on Wednesday for 40 at the Cannes insider rooftop terrace on the roof of the Marriot Hotel.
 
The famed ruby earrings of Tuesday are priced at 15,000 euros; while the ring costs 8,000 euros. Eventually the house hopes to develop a crystal version of the Cruz designs at entry-level prices to start retailing in spring 2019.
 
Initially, Cruz’s stones will only be available on order and in a few select Atelier Swarovski sales points. Executives expect two thirds of sales to be at Christmas. The division still does not have its own proper independent boutiques but that should change next year.
 
Swarovski has some 3,000 boutiques worldwide in over 150 countries. Including concessions and independent retail stores, there are almost 10,000 sales points worldwide. Atelier is sold in about 400 Swarovski boutiques and some 150 independent retailers, high-end destinations like Le Bon Marché or Neiman Marcus.
 
At the meal, Nadja Swarovki was candid enough to admit that the entire collection was not quite finished, but stressed all would be ready for its proper full-blown launch in early July during the French haute couture season in Paris.
 
“Our goal is to become a leader in conscious luxury,” said Nadja at the lunch, where she also presented Teri Schwartz, the dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television of UCLA in Los Angeles, the world’s most famous film college.
 
A team of Schwartz’s students have just finished making a path-breaking film Waterschool, financed by Swarovski, about helping young students become water stewards in six continents to guarantee clean fresh water in schools, an essential element in all education.
 
Nadja founded Atelier Swarovski in 2007 to showcase the brand’s commitment to creativity and craftsmanship. The division has worked with hipster designers like Christopher Kane, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Jason Wu, developing designer-driven crystal costume jewelry at a "no pain at the cash register" price point. It has also created a series of home décor designs, which it has shown for the last three years at Milan Design Week – teaming with the likes of Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind and Ron Arad.