Swarovski Certificate of Authenticity (COA) – What is it?
Swarovski includes a ' product booklet' entitled 'Certificate' with their figurines.This assures, supposedly, that the product was issued by Swarovski; however, with the exception of the older issues that were produced without a logo (see our article about the Swarovski Logo), it is more likely that the piece can be 'authenticated' by either the Old Block SC or Swan logo.
Some Crystal Fanatics will insist a COA is included when purchasing Swarovski crystal figurines to ensure they have the 'complete package', but most of these certs are interchangeable between products, with the following exceptions:
If the crystal figurine in question is a Swarovski Limited Edition figurine, or a Swarovski Annual Edition, the Certificate of Authenticity is important because these COA's are usually quite different than those found in regularly issued products.
Here are just a few examples:
The company has used several different types of certificates since 1986.
The octagonal cert was used from approximately 1976 to 1988.
From 1988 to 1995, a square white Swarovski certificate was used.
The only round Swarovski certificate was used from 1995 to 2000.
Since 2000, a variety of square and triangular certificates have been used, including issues in white, blue, and red.
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Thank you Pat, for the detailed information, about the different Swarovski certificates.
ReplyDeleteI know new collectors will find it useful, and the old hands may even learn something as well.