When fashion meets technology, sparks—and glitter—fly. For Philips, the collaboration with Swarovski raised more than just eyebrows — the sexy, cool, jewel-studded gizmos, clearly designed in the strategy to set women’s hearts aflutter, put the heat on electronics manufacturers and endow sparkle on the Philips brand.

But this shouldn’t take the industry by surprise. Philips’ legacy of visionary feats in the field of electronics tells the story of a pacesetter with acute foresight and a proven track record earned in the relentless pursuit of pushing the envelope. All in the interest of making quality products exceptional.

And Swarovski is one of the driving forces that will cast Philips, long known to be a market leader in consumer electronics with sales amounting to EUR 27 billion in 2006, in a brand new light as a lifestyle business.

The advent of electrical engineering introduced trailblazing individuals like brothers Gerard and Anton Philips, who have made an indelible mark in modern lifestyle when electricity signaled the dawn of a new enterprise in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in 1891.

Commercialized electricity generated a huge demand for light bulbs. Philips & Co. rose to become one of the major producers of carbon-filament lamps in Europe by the turn of the century, and its brand representation of the time — a single word printed on metal filament lamps — reflected its market position.

In 1898, Anton Philips demonstrated savvy marketing when he used the picture of a girl in native Dutch costume on a set of postcards. Above the show of patriotism was the brand illustrated on individual light bulbs, again reinforcing its status as a leader in modern illumination.

Advancing developments in new lighting technologies fueled the steady expansion of the company. To ramp up product innovation, Philips established a research laboratory in 1914 focused on the study of physical and chemical phenomena.

The investment bore the medical X-ray tube four years later, making Philips’ foray to healthcare. It was a landmark achievement that paved the way for product diversification. Seeing the untapped potential in lighting technologies, Philips quickly undertook protective measures and applied for patents in areas stretching from X-ray radiation to radio reception. Television was one of their first experiments in 1925, with radios following short after, becoming part of their production in 1927.

Within a span of five years, Philips’ radios hit the millionth-mark in sales. The Miniwatt radio valves and the Philigraph (an early sound recording device) were flying off the shelves. On their packaging was the famous shield logo with the familiar waves and stars Philips made their mark with. Making its debut in 1926, the waves symbolized radio waves and the stars represented the evening sky because at the time, families would gather around the radio set in the evening for news and entertainment.

It was only in 1930 that the logo most closely associated with the brand — comprising four stars, three waves and the circle — made its appearance on radios and gramophones. But the company soon had to substitute it with the shield emblem composed of the Philips circle and the wordmark in 1938, to avoid trademark problems with owners of other well-known circular emblems.

As Philips began to establish its corporate identity, they also flexed their innovation muscle with the first Philishave electric razor, equipped with the rotating heads Philips Research invented. Since then, the Philishave has become one of the world’s favorite electric razors, celebrating the production of the 300-millionth Philishave electric shaver in 1995.

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