The Elegance of Africa

Wise, stoic, and deeply interconnected, the African bush elephant and forest elephant encapsulate the beauty of this vast continent and are essential to the large ecosystem around them. Characterized by their strong familial bonds and intelligence as a species, these creatures form the centerpiece of our Elegance of Africa  collection.  Featuring the SCS Annual Edition 2022 Elephant Fayola, captured in stunning new color greige and featuring 822 crystal facets, this crystal creation represents the grace and dynamism of the Elephant grandmother who leads her herd. 

To commemorate the release of this breathtaking crystal creation, designed by Martin Zendron, we’ve collected everything you need to know about the wonders of the African Elephant. 

The African elephant is found from the rainforests of Central and Western Africa to the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa. While the African elephant’s ears resemble the shape of the vast African continent, its cousin, the Asian elephant, has ears which resemble the outline of the Indian subcontinent.  

For African elephants, the female acts as the dominant head of the family, and as the matriarch of her herd, she leads the elephants on their long migration. The SCS Annual Edition 2022 Elephant Fayola depicts this Elephant matriarch, with the African origin name Fayola meaning the ”one who walks with honor”. With pride and strength, the oldest and most experienced female elephant grandmother takes charge of the herd which can range from three to twenty-five elephants. 

These gentle giants stand tall in the heat of the vast planes of the Serengeti. As the world’s largest land animal their height ranges between a towering 8ft and 13 ft. Elephants weigh anywhere between 5000—14,000 lbs . With their large stature and roaming ways, it is no surprise that they spend over three-quarters of their day consuming food on their migration journey.

大象不僅看起來雄偉，其身體結構全都為適應烈日下經常荒涼的自然棲息地環境。在非洲平原的酷熱天氣下，大象的皮膚能幫助其保持涼爽，避免曬傷。擁有 2.5 公分厚的堅韌皮膚，身體表面還有能幫助減少水份揮發的許多皺紋。在 SCS Elephant 上首次以新色米灰色調，在水晶上呈現出這種令人印象深刻的皮膚狀態。但大象的皮膚並不像人們想像的那麼堅而不摧，大象為了保護皮膚免受陽光照射，會在背上撒沙子，這是它們靈巧天性的另一種表現。 
 
身為一種有高度智慧的物種，這些充滿活力的生物在出生後不久，身體就開始令人難以置信地快速成長，小象在來到世界後僅 20 分鐘就能站立。在我們迷人的小象麥迪薩的水晶作品中就呈現出上述成長的里程碑。兩天後，新生的小象跟上了大象群，隨著他們在大象祖母法約拉的領導下繼續漫遊和遷徙，法約拉帶領他們穿過塞倫蓋提平原。 

Whether an Elephant is picking up an object, finding food, stripping bark from trees, or defending itself from attack, its stunning ivory tusks are in fact teeth that have evolved for many essential purposes. Forceful, majestic, and wrapped in durable enamel the ivory tusks are seen on both male and female African elephants, and each elephant has a dominant tusk, just as humans have a dominant hand. 

A masterpiece of design, the Elephant’s trunk is capable of much more than we might think. This multitool is made up of muscle, giving the Elephant both strength and flexibility to uproot trees or delicately pick up smaller objects and pluck leaves. From smelling, drinking, and spraying water, the wonders of the Elephant’s truck also help the animal to communicate from miles apart. With its truck the Elephant creates seismic signals, or vibrations in the ground, which the animals pick up using their bones. 
 

But these elephants are endangered. Sadly, due to the illegal ivory trade 9 out of 10 African elephants have been wiped out in the past 100 years, leaving just 415,000 in the wild. A stark reminder that we should cherish and protect these beautiful creatures and respect their place on this earth. 

We hope our crystal creation portraying this grandmother elephant’s stoic beauty sheds light on the gentle nature of these wonderful creators, reiterating the need to protect the African Elephant and the habitat that surrounds it.

Find out more about the creation of the Elephant Fayola in this article