• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Swarovski Optik 70th Anniversary Video (1 Viewer)

John A Roberts

John A Roberts

Well-known member
Australia
The company name Swarovski Optik KG was registered 70 years ago in April 1949

As part of the anniversary, SO has recently posted a video about the company at: https://aa.swarovskioptik.com/hunti...KI_OPTIK_Figures_describing_a_success_story_H
The 2 minute video is in German with English sub-titles, and the main points are:

PRODUCTION
Production is at the 40,000 sq meter (430,000 sq feet) Absam site, which includes a 10,000 sq meter production area
It uses 125 machines, 90 of which are CNC (Computer Numerical Controlled)
The machines have a 10 years service life after which they are replaced
Manufacturing is linked and monitored by a digitised MES (Manufacturing Executive System)

PARTS
For the product range, SO manufactures around 9,500 different parts, which places a huge stress on the timely provision of parts when needed on the production line

FINANCIAL INVESTMENT
Currently a major €28.7 million investment in production capability is underway

EMPLOYEES
There are 970 world wide, 770 of which are at Absam

For the production personnel, there is an apprenticeship programme which starts as young as the age of 14
Apprentices are trained in one of three qualifications: Machining Technology; Optics, or; Automation and Process Control
The last was introduced in 2018 (and presumedly reflects the increasing importance of digital processes)


The overall message is one of the use of modernisation and efficiency to ensure quality

- - - -
OTHER CURRENT CORPORATE INFORMATION
There is of course additional information on SO’s website:

A) Various information is linked to the ‘About Us’ option in the bar at the top of the page: https://aa.swarovskioptik.com/birding?CategoryName=21

B) A variety of detailed information is contained in the 136 page 2016 Sustainability Report. For some examples and a direct link, see here: https://aa.swarovskioptik.com/birding?CategoryName=21

And SO also provides optical design and production services to other businesses under the SWAROTEC brand, see the seperate website here: http://www.swarotec.com/en


RECENT VISITS TO THE ABSAM FACTORY
I recently came across two reports of 2018 visits to the Absam factory
They expand on some of the information in the video and provide additional images of the factory

The first report includes reference to the concept of ‘Swarovskigeist' - the attitude that defines the company culture
Both also include images of a factory cutaway EL SV x42 model

https://optics-info.com/swarovski-factory-tour-by-optics-trade/

https://blog.parkcameras.com/2018/05/exploring-swarovski-optiks-binoculars-spotting-scopes.html


John
 
Although necessarily dated in some aspects, the 136 page Sustainability Report from 2016 can still be downloaded at:

For some examples of the content, see: https://www.birdforum.net/threads/swarovski-optik’s-2016-sustainability-report.373270/

And for other information not found elsewhere, also see: Swarovski Binoculars - Volume of Production


John


p.s. As Peter/ wllmspd indicates (post #73 at: New Swarovski product announcement in January 2024...? ),
April this year may see a product announcement to mark the 75th anniversary of the registration of the Swarovski Optik company (?).
 
Last edited:
Contrary to the initial post above, the most recent entry on Swarovski Optik's accounts on Facebook,
indicates that the company was founded on the 4th January 1949:

per SO on Facebook.jpg
e.g. from: Log in to Facebook


. . . So whether there will soon be any celebratory product announcements 🤷‍♂️


John
 
The Swarovskis are pretty proud of their history and the 75 years anniversary will likely be celebrated in style. Still Swaro and its websites are curiously silent about the fact that the history of its optics business goes actually back even more than 75 years.

Here (google translated) excerpts from this website giving some info on where the optics business is coming from:

The development of the Swarovski company shows how profitable the Nazi era could be for companies that were closely linked to National Socialism. (...)
Click to expand...

As a Wehrmacht company, the company was overwhelmed with orders and, after producing gauges, was also able to enter into large-scale production of double telescopes after the test lenses met the expectations of them at the end of June 1940. Swarovski then received a major order for 13,500 double telescopes. By mid-1943, the glass melting and grinding shop had completely converted to optical glass production and, using self-developed processes, also used reflex lenses, reflective glasses, etc. been generated. The company also developed glass cutting machines as well as centering and prism grinding machines. 183,000 binoculars alone were produced by the end of the war. In March 1944, almost 1,200 employees, including many foreign forced laborers, worked at Swarovski.The company ultimately emerged stronger from the war and the Nazi era. It had diversified its production and become more competitive. The production of abrasives and optical equipment had become so important that soon after 1945 it was able to spin off these production areas and continue running them in its own factories as subsidiaries. In 1949, Swarovski began to relocate abrasives production to Schwaz with the founding of “Tyrolit Schleifmittelwerke Swarovski KG”. As early as 1948, the optical department moved to its own factory in Absam-Eichat with the founding of “Swarovski Optik KG”.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
John Roberts, post 3,
On the WEB-site of House of Outdoor I have published a power point with regard to the history and development of Swarovski Optik. I presented it during a meeting of the Binocular History Society . Actually the company started making binoculars before WW-2 and a porro 6x30 was made already in 1939 and quite a few were made for the German army: during WW-2; you can find them in black or in beige. Jan van Daalen has one or two in his histoical binocular collection.
Gijs van Ginkel
 
dalat said:
Still Swaro and its websites are curiously silent about the fact that the history of its optics business goes actually back even more than 75 years.
Click to expand...
What do you find curious about this? What could Swaro possibly say in passing about that period in a website blurb or video that would be remotely adequate? Or are you suggesting that they shouldn't talk about the company's history at all? Does that also apply to other manufacturers?
 
Maybe "telling" would have been a better word than "curious"?

That Swarovski is proudly boasting of its long history in its marketing materials, but at the same time pretending that there was nothing at all before 1949, is telling for the way the Swarovski family deals with the behaviour of their grandfathers during the Nazi times.

From what I read, the Swarovski's were enthusiastic first hour Nazis then and they resist transparency about those times until today. While Swarovski was not alone in becoming entagled in the Nazi regime and war machine - most old German and Austrian companies with skills and products relevant to the war efforts have less than glorious chapters in their long history - others did behave better then and today.

So yes, I suggest that when companies boast of their history in their marketing materials, they don't hide their dark periods but at least mention them briefly. For example like Zeiss does.
 
The only optical company that refused to produce for the nazi regime (please correct me when I am wrong) in Europe was Nedoptifa (Dutch for: Dutch Optical Facility) in Utrecht, owned by Caroline Bleeker. As a result the company was looted during WWII.
Jan
 
Further to Gijs' post #6 . . .

Gijs' 100 slide presentation 'History and quality development of Swarovski Optik 1935 to present'
can be found at: https://www.houseofoutdoor.com/verrekijkers/verrekijkers-testen-en-vergelijken/

It contains much information about SO's history, and also about various discontinued models.
Some of the information cannot be found elsewhere e.g. slide #18 concerning WWII binocular production
- which is referred to in part B) of the link below.

- - - -
For a quick historical overview . . .

The crystal jewellery manufacturing company Swarovski KG was founded in 1895.

John A Roberts said:
. . .
B) WWII Military Production
Prior to WWII Swarovski did not make binoculars but specialised in making crystals for the jewellery trade
In 1939 it established an optics department and commenced to manufacture spectacle lens blanks

However during the war, production was entirely devoted to military needs
The main product was the standard pattern 6x30 Dienstglas i.e. the military version of the Zeiss Silvarem IF binocular
Production was from April 1941 to around late-1944, with around 183,000 units delivered to the military *
The units were marked with the three letter code 'cag' to identify them as Swarovski production
Various on-line posts indicate that Swarovski produced around 18% of the total 6x30’s (However, I’ve not seen any indication as to the source of the information)
And for a lot more detail see the two attached tables. For convenience, I’ve sorted the information both chronologically and by features

Additionally, in 1943 Swarovski also manufactured another product, the ZF 41/1. It was a 1.5x11mm intermediate eye relief telescopic sight
Production exceeded 4,000 units which were also marked cag
See Ken Tomon’s comprehensive coverage at: Zielfernrohr Contents (English)

* In late April 1945 Swarovski had on hand an order for 5,000 Dienstglas that were still being worked on
As the formal German surrender was on 7th May, this additional production would have formed a substantial part of the post-WWII DWS marked units
See slide #18 in Gijs’ Power Point presentation ‘History and quality development of Swarovski Optik 1935-present time’ at: https://www.houseofoutdoor.com/verrekijkers/verrekijkers-testen-en-vergelijken/


C) Early Post-WWII Activity
Following the end of the war, in late 1945 Swarovski recommenced spectacle lens production, and also established the ‘Vocational School for Opticians’ locally in Solbad Hall
After the war years there would have been a large civilian demand for such a product

When Swarovski was able to officially recommence binocular production/ commence commercial sales in 1948, they:
- sold slightly modified cag units which were marked DWS *
(perhaps 10,000 units in all: the observed numbering is from 169,934 to 178,434, which continued on from the first cag numbering sequence that went to at least 168,651), and
- all new production . . .
The former were mainly sold to Allied occupation forces, and the later were primarily for export

* See the image of a DWS unit to compare to the cag images from Jan [ in post #21 at: https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=3954694#post3954694 ]
The image on Flickr is from Frank (aka LPT on Bird Forum):
https://flic.kr/p/F7y7ia
. . .
Click to expand...
For more on the cag production, also see posts #7 and 11 in the same thread.


. . . and as indicated in this thread, the separate company Swarovski Optik KG was registered in 1949.


John
 
Last edited:
dalat said:
So yes, I suggest that when companies boast of their history in their marketing materials, they don't hide their dark periods but at least mention them briefly. For example like Zeiss does.
Click to expand...
You have a point that Swaro's optical production really began in WW2, and the Zeiss webpage does have two short sentences about military production and forced labor, as they could too. But who wants to get into the personal "enthusiasm" issue... and how much it mattered here?

I think the world has been going slowly crazy ever since WW2, and the impossibility of "dealing with it" on all sides.
 
Last edited:
jan van daalen said:
The only optical company that refused to produce for the nazi regime (please correct me when I am wrong) in Europe was Nedoptifa (Dutch for: Dutch Optical Facility) in Utrecht, owned by Caroline Bleeker. As a result the company was looted during WWII.
Jan
Click to expand...
Did Leica refuse to produce for the Nazis? Or did they just refuse the forced labor of the Nazis enslaved?

They ran the “Leica Train” to smuggle people in danger of the Nazis out of harms way, didn’t they? I have always thought this was the most honorable action a company could take.
 
Nethero said:
Did Leica refuse to produce for the Nazis? Or did they just refuse the forced labor of the Nazis enslaved?

They ran the “Leica Train” to smuggle people in danger of the Nazis out of harms way, didn’t they? I have always thought this was the most honorable action a company could take.
Click to expand...
Well, Leica has a nazi production code and several opical devices carry that code, so we can say they did produce for the Nazi regime.
Did they also help 'people in danger' (as a lot of factories did) as you put it is a complete different story.

Jan
 
Nethero said:
Did Leica refuse to produce for the Nazis? Or did they just refuse the forced labor of the Nazis enslaved?

They ran the “Leica Train” to smuggle people in danger of the Nazis out of harms way, didn’t they? I have always thought this was the most honorable action a company could take.
Click to expand...

Here is a recent article about this (in German, here google translated): Leica und die Nazis - War Ernst Leitz ein Widerstandsheld?

Ernst Leitz appears to have been not at all a friend of the Nazi regime, but ultimately also became a party member and produced for the army, because he ultimately did not want to risk expropriation (so unlike the Dutch company mentioned by Jan). Leica also employed forced labour. However, it appears that Leitz went to considerable lengths and to great personal risks to treat the forced labourors decently and to save Jews. Ernst Leitz did not talk about this after the war.

I can't imagine how difficult it was for the people at the time to take these decisions and I'm very grateful that we don't have to make such decisions today.
 
Last edited:
dalat said:
So during WW2, things were fine, but ever since then the world is going crazy?
Click to expand...
That would be a bizarre reading of my remark. I thought we had reached a better understanding.

I've always felt that the 20th century went off the rails in a way people have never really managed to cope with (and some of those attempts have got rather crazy themselves), but one could argue about picking a date. The first World War was seen this way by an earlier generation, and followed by a period that must have seemed crazy also, especially in Germany, but has obviously been overshadowed by the second. I have no problem with choosing 1914 instead; it results in a longer story, but one that makes more sense.

Anyway the issue at hand is how much of this insanity a simple story of an optical company's products should be expected to get into.
 

Similar threads

John A Roberts
Expected Delays to Repairs by Swarovski Absam later this year
2
Replies
21
Views
4K
Birdister
B
G
New Swarovski Smart Binoculars
Replies
5
Views
2K
Dyrlege
D
dorubird
Swarovski Habicht 7x42 dissection
2 3 4
Replies
63
Views
12K
dorubird
dorubird
G
GPO Binoculars
Replies
1
Views
1K
Reesyd
R
John A Roberts
Swarovski Binoculars - Volume of Production
Replies
12
Views
6K
ticl2184
ticl2184

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top