Thank you for your compliments :) Every collection starts out small, so don't worry, you'll get there! There are people with larger collections than mine too, with 2000 to 3000 figurines, but every collection is special in its own way :)

Congratulations for Mandisa! She's also my favourite from all the elephants, so adorable, and also the first one I ordered :D

Thank you so much! This was just a quarterly-annual update of new items in my collection though. The full collection is shown once a year at the beginning of the year. if you want to check that out, thee link is kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aa-AZd2qxrbcpYk.html

Hello Kjersti! Glad you've liked my updates, I should have the next ones in a few days (or sooner). I think Swarovski has made a whole video about displaying and maintenance, but I can talk about that a bit and things I do differently in the next annual collection tour, if that works? Good luck with your collection, it's always nice to see new collectors too! :)

@@KMLautanen thank you 😊 Looking forward to it. And about the care-thing - whatever works for you 👍 Happy New year 🎉✨

I had a friend who collected glass and displayed it in a glass cabinet. One of the highest shelves had broken, causing a domino effect, except a lot less amusing and a lot more expensive. The figurines in this video are only the ones I purchased between July and September, my main collection has over 950 Swarovski figurines right now, so I'd need more glass cabinets than I can easily fit into the rooms. Some of my main wooden collection shelves are built inside the walls and therefore take no space, and there are fewer chances of accidents :) I don't care so much for maximum sparkle and shine, this works for me :)

@@KMLautanen I see! That's the best way to void accidents. I have a glass cabinet and some figurines. But when i purchase the cabinet, I ordered some options to make the shelves firmer. (Sorry about my Endlish :P)

I have seen many very strong glass cabinets, even some I might trust, except our house is close to a railroad track. Everything tends to shake, especially when those large freight trains between Finland and Russia pass by (although there have been none of those since last spring, a small blessing!) but if the items would be stationed on glass shelves and then shaking, there's a higher chance for small chips as well as damage for the glass shelves. And then there's just that I rarely like glass-shelf cabinets. They tend to be very modern, while I prefer old, carved and wooden furniture anyway. Glass cabinets would also look out of place here. :) So, many reasons :D And your English is fine, mine is far from perfect either!

@@KMLautanen Oh, I see the big reason of this. And if i get that problem, I may will do same you.🙂

Every collector has their own sources for purchases. I have more than a dozen sources I use more or less regularly , many of which I'm unwilling to share. I recommend starting at Swarovski's website www.swarovski.com/ for mint, new pieces and searching online for retired pieces :)

Oh, which box? Actually, Swarovski currently has factories in several countries, including Serbia (I've purchased dozens of items directly from Swarovski.com, and they have labels made in Serbia, for example all my three SCS Elephants were bought directly from Swarovski.com and all were made in Serbia), and I recently received a pen from Swarovski with a made in China-label (I won that from Swarovski's contest, actually). I received a SCS Loyalty gift (you get one if you purchase the SCS Annual Exclusives several years in running) and it was made in India (I didn't order or pay for that either, since Loyalty gifts are sent by SCS). About 80% of my figurines come directly from Swarovski's website, and though the older ones are all made in Austria, many of the newer ones were made in other countries, sometimes including an addition to their label "made in (XX) from finest Austrian crystals" though not always). Many large brands have factories in countries with cheaper production costs because of the savings, so Swarovski isn't even the only one with factories in "cheaper" countries. The company might be Austrian, but often many shipment leave from Bern in Switzerland. It's all global these days! When you handle a fake Swarovski ornament, you can usually tell. They're often cheaper glass, the facets don't meet precisely, and the material feels lighter. They're less sparkly. I've even heard of people getting plastic ornaments. When you buy directly from Swarovski.com or good, reputable resellers and retailers, getting a fake is highly unlikely.

Ah, I see you're referring to my Macy's exclusive 2022 Holiday Ornament. That is also not a fake, unless Macy's is selling fakes as Swarovski, and I doubt they'd do that, considering they're a reputable and huge department store chain across America. That ornament was purchased directly from Macy's website by my American friend. It is possible that Swarovski only designed the ornament and Macy's commissioned it from Vietnam, which is what many businesses do to cut costs in production. But claiming any figurines which aren't made in Austria would make approximately 80% of stuff ordered from Swarovski.com fakes.

@@KMLautanen Maybe, maybe, but in my personal opinión I would rather collect Swarovski authentic than copies or dubious sources.The 3 sellers knew they were not authentic, so they refund my full money and asked me to keep their "Swarovski fakes" and made in Vietnam without having to return them. A Swarovski representative wrote me that Swarovski made in Vietnam is a copy. You should make videos about real and fakes Swarovski items. Sellings on Ebay, Amazon and other places. Thank you!!!

Then the "Swarovski representative" would probably be able to tell me why Swarovski.com sends products made in Vietnam, China, India and Serbia when you order them from their website, directly. I don't know what rep you've spoken to, but they clearly have wrong information, though while the company itself is Austrian, more and more of their products are made elsewhere to cut their costs. Most sellers on eBay have to, unfortunately, refund the buyer their money if they claim something is wrong, because they at least avoid bad feedback and return shipping costs that way. PayPal and eBay always take the buyer's side. Right now many sellers on eBay are in trouble because so many buyers claim their items are fakes or broken to get a refund they don't actually deserve, and I know several cases where buyers actually returned the empty box after taking out the figurine to get the refund, so sellers mostly just refund when a buyer complains because that's often the only thing they can do. If they ask for the item back, they receive bad feedback and have to pay return cost, sometimes receiving nothing back! eBay is NOT a good place for sellers these days. So no, not all figurines made in Serbia, China, Vietnam etc are fakes. If you're so concerned, I highly suggest you purchase your items only from Swarovski.com and most reputable businesses such as The Crystal Lodge, NandPSwan, or elegant-works-of-art.com. Oh wait, they will also sell genuine Swarovski items made in countries such as Serbia, Vietnam or India. Never mind if you're being an idiot.. but even if you buy directly from Swarovski, you will _still_ receive items made in Serbia, India or Vietnam, because that's just how the world works in commercial production these days. Here, for example, is one piece of news about the large factory in Serbia: seenews.com/news/swarovski-relocating-production-to-serbia-to-cut-costs-report-589910 ""Less and less is being produced in Wattens, our production management is committed to relocating jobs. Serbia seems to be the panacea for cheap production," daily Tiroler Tageszeitung quoted Swarovski works council head Ernst Daberto as saying last week. "

And you can be bloody sure I'd immediately return a fake, but unfortunately that's just how the world works these days. You might buy an item from an high-brand American company, but you might as well receive an item made in India, South America or one of the eastern block countries. Most companies prefer to advertise it as little as possible, but it's a simple fact of life: unless you're buying from a private craft artisan, there's a great chance you'll pay for top dollar/euro for an item produced with cheap or slave labour. So, Swarovski is an Austrian brand, and they have excellent quality control (usually, anyway), but they're a business and they're cutting costs the same as everyone else. Actually, if the crystal material itself is made in Austria, they can be cut and assembled in cheaper countries and they can be still be advertised as "Austrian Crystal". Actually, the whole production thing pops up from time to time everywhere if you read the news. In my home country, Finland, there's a special label that can be marked if the item is made in Finland. The customer expects to receive an item made in Finland. But not too many weeks ago there was a case where they were selling bags of lettuce mix which were marked "made in Finland". When they inspected it, they found that the lettuce was actually produced in other European countries, harvested, then imported and repackaged and sold as Finnish product. Perfectly legal, because it was packaged and mixed in Finland. My favourite shoe designer is a Finn, they sold their items in Finland etc, but everything was produced in Spain, Italy and so on, because wages in Finland were just too expensive. Wages in Austria are much higher than in Serbia, Vietnam etc, so Swarovski actually saves a pretty penny by producing many things abroad. It's the same with most brands! If you only want to collect Austrian Swarovski figurines, then there's a good chance you won't be able to purchase most figurines unless you manage to find some that were made in their Austrian factory. If you only want to collect the older figurines, then you won't have that problem, but anything made in the last last decade or so can just as easily have been made in Serbia, India or Vietnam. Believe me, I was surprised when I opened a package which I'd ordered from swarovski's website and for the first time found items made in Serbia. The quality hasn't gone down in figurines so I don't complain too much or out loud, although it's sad to consider how many poorer people have to work hard in those factories while Swarovski's management pockets the savings and Austrians go unemployed while factories get downsized in Austria. That's something every collector has to decide for themselves: do they want to also buy the newer figurines produced in cheaper countries, or only collect retired pieces?

My email address is katja.m.lautanen@gmail.com. I don't speak Greek though.