Daniel Swarovski

Austria, crystal. Swarovski, a Bohemian glass cutter, patented an electric machine for cutting crystal precisely in 1892 and moved to Wattens in the Tyrol in 1895, where hydroelectric power could drive it. Precision-cut crystal stones for fashion and jewellery became the company's specialism and export trade, and it remained family-owned. He died in 1956.