Swarovski Roses: Crystalline Beauty as Valentines and Year Round Gifts of Love

Three favorite Swarovski figurines which beautify all interiors as gifts of love share the common theme of roses:
• vase of roses,
• Kris Bear with three roses, and
• rosy keepsake box.

Especially enchanting about these rosy figurines is their longevity, for their petals do not wither and their crystals do not droop.

Ruby crystal roses as richly red as real roses regally top elegant stems with exquisite silver-tone rhodium detailing. The exceptional artistry of these crystal roses enchants me.

Oftentimes my real roses remain in the garden, which is their natural home. My preference is to visit them rather than to sever them from the congenial setting of rosy petals and foliage on the shrub of their birth. Flower arranging is a favorite pastime for me, and floral gifts are always welcome.

And yet cut roses do not catch light with the same perfumed glow indoors as outdoors. They cannot compare with the sparkle of Swarovski roses in their shimmering vase. 

Swarovski's Kris Bear strikes a charming pose as the bearer of a bouquet of roses in Bordeaux crystal. Jet crystal eyes and nose convey the merry delight of being the bearer of a perfect gift.

For me, Kris Bear's rosy trio spells "I love you!"

In the language of flowers -- real or crystal -- roses exemplify love.

Whereas the fading and withering of cut roses may be viewed from the gloomy perspective of love as ephemeral, crystal roses affirm that love beautifies and endures.

The earnestness of Kris Bear's expression stays with me and recalls the wistful verses of a romantic French song, "Parlez-moi d'amour" ("Speak to me of love"), composed in 1930 by Jean Bernard Daniel Neuberger (February 26, 1891-January 19, 1976), under his pseudonym of Jean Lenoir:

"Parlez moi d'amour
Redites-moi des choses tendres . . . ."

The melody played, briefly yet memorably, as Ilsa (played by Ingrid Bergman) re-enters the life of her former great love, Rick (played by Humphrey Bogart) in the 1942 American romantic drama, "Casablanca," one of cinema's great love stories.

Jewelry boxes promise safe repose for my jeweled treasures. I cherish the design of the containers as much as the keepsakes which they safeguard.

In childhood vintage pillboxes fascinated me because oftentimes they doubled as storage containers for small items of jewelry, such as brooches and rings. In my imagination, priceless gems such as the Hope Diamond or sapphiric "Star of India" could be hidden in plain sight in a Victorian pillbox!

The artistry of this symbolic rose recalls the intrinsic beauty of roses and reminds me of the opening lines to one of my maternal grandmother's favorite poems, "Endymion" by English romantic poet John Keats (October 31, 1795 - February 23, 1821):

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness . . . ."

Valentine's Day is a day for expressing love, an emotion which exhibits a variety of degrees and layers. In the twenty-first century, Valentine's Day is not just for lovers, so aspects other than romantic love may be honored as well with gifts from the heart.

For gifts which express love for more than a day, the medley of roses and Swarovski crystal offers enticing choices that cannot fail to please year-round by gladdening hearts and brightening the eyes.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

"Valentine's Day red roses": Vimukthi, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Valentines_day_flowers.jpg

"St. Valentine Kneeling in Supplication", c. 1600s painting by David Teniers III (1638 – October 2, 1685): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:St-Valentine-Kneeling-In-Supplication.jpg