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.

Elephants don’t just look majestic their complete anatomy is adapted for the often-inhospitable conditions of their natural habitat under the blazing sun. In the scorching heat of Africa’s plains, the elephant’s skin helps them to stay cool and avoid sunburn. With tough skin that is 2.5cms thick, the many wrinkles on the surface of their bodies help them to save water. It is this impressive skin that is captured in crystal with the new color greige featured for the first time on the SCS Elephant. But the skin of elephants is not as tough as people think, to protect their skin from the sun, elephants sprinkle sand onto their backs, another sign of their ingenious natures. 
 
As a highly intelligent species, these dynamic creatures make incredible leaps soon after birth with elephant calves learning to stand just 20 minutes after they arrive into the world . A milestone which is captured in our cheeky Baby Elephant Madisa crystal creation. After two days, the newest additions can keep up with the herd, as the elephants continue to roam and migrate under the watchful eye of the grandmother Fayola who leads them across the Serengeti. 

Najsi slon pobira predmete s tal, išče hrano, trga lubje z dreves ali pa se brani pred napadalci, njegovi osupljivi slonokoščeni okli so pravzaprav zobje, ki so se razvili za različne namene. Silovitost in mogočnost, oviti v trpežno sklenino slonokoščenih oklov, vidimo tako pri samici kot samcu afriškega slona. In prav vsak slon ima svoj dominantni okel, tako kot človek svojo dominantno roko. 

Slonji trobec, pravcata oblikovalska mojstrovina, je zmožna precej več, kot bi si mislili. To večnamensko orodje iz mišic daje slonu tako moč kot prilagodljivost pri ruvanju dreves ter tankočutnost pri pobiranju drobnih predmetov in puljenju listov. S trobcem voha, pije in prši vodo, hkrati pa mu to čudo pomaga, da se slon sporazumeva na kilometre daleč. S svojim trobcem oddaja seizmične signale oz. talne vibracije, ki jih živali zaznavajo s pomočjo svojih kosti. 
 

Toda ti sloni so ogroženi. Žal je bilo v zadnjih 100 letih zaradi prepovedane trgovine s slonovino 9 od 10 afriških slonov izbrisanih z obličja zemlje, tako da jih živi v divjini samo še 415.000. Neusmiljen opomnik, da moramo ta čudovita bitja varovati in za njih ljubeče skrbeti ter spoštovati njihovo mesto na zemlji. 

Upamo, da bodo naše kristalne stvaritve, ki upodabljajo stoično lepoto slonje babice, odstrle nežno naravo teh čudovitih bitij in ponovno izpostavile potrebo po zaščiti afriškega slona in življenjskega okolja, v katerem biva.

Izvedite več o stvaritvi slonice Fayole v tem prispevku.