July 2008 - The famous crystal chandeliers of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City are getting a complete makeover this summer? The Swarovski crystal company has donated the funds for the labor as well as 49,000 pieces of Swarovski crystal for the makeover of the famous "sputnik" chandeliers of the Opera House. The cost is over $1 million. (The original chandeliers were a gift to Lincoln Center from the Austrian government.) The chandeliers have now been removed from the building and newly refurbished and sparkling with new brilliance, will rise to the ceiling again for the Met's opening night performance in September 2008.

October 2008 - Olympus teams up with Swarovski to dress up its camera. Olympus’s limited edition Stylus 1040 Crystal digicam to features a diagonal stripe of 98 Swarovski crystals on the sliding lens barrier. The jeweled camera features face-detection autofocus and autoexposure to provide Intelligent Auto mode detecting the five most commonly used scenes and adjusts settings, which is really handy because fashionistas don't generally have time to focus on such details when taking pictures at a party for their myspace page! Filed under: Crystal Covered Camera