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Fresh appeal

Now crystal takes the form of an elephant! Read on

THE GEM A tusker in crystal

Swarovski, the leading brand for cut crystals is ready with its fifth limited edition 2006 - The Elephant that joins its line of Eagle, Peacock, Wild Horses and Bull.

Designed by Heinz Tabertshofer, the 20.4 cm high elephant, weighing over 12 kg, is a highly evocative crystal piece, which stands for wisdom and dynamism.

"For me the elephant signifies great strength and great humility. The elephant is a very calm animal with the strength to destroy everything in its path but refrains from doing so because of his nature," says Shiv Kumar, the country manager for Swarovski in India.

A connoisseur of art himself, he believes that art is personal and subjective and means different things to different people but stays a "permanent friend because it cannot and will not change its contours or design".

Limited edition piece

The Elephant is a limited edition piece with only 10000 of these available to select buyers globally.

The buyers will be selected by draw of lots to be held in the second week of October this year from among the applicants who are members of the Swarovski Crystal Society.

"The design of the elephant is carefully created by us keeping in mind the African bull elephant whose habits and characteristics have been closely monitored by our research committee for two to three years. Our attempt is to make the art as realistic and as close to nature as possible." Nature being a common theme in all Swarovski creations the attempt he says, "is perfecting crystal and likening it to the real thing".

Besides being a collector's item appealing to the aesthetic taste of is owner, Kumar feels that crystal not only livens up its surroundings by the light it reflects, it also "brings with it the memories of the good times it has been a part of, and thus affects the sensibility of its viewer."

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