The inspiration for Razzle Bedazzle can be found in the shimmering finish known as Aurora borealis, which Swarovski developed in 1956 in collaboration with Christian Dior. The inspiration for this shimmering finish, which gave the company’s cut crystal a singular sparkle that became one of its signatures, was in turn inspired by the Northern Lights, the natural light displays that dance across skies each year in the polar zones. In the northern latitudes, the effect is called the aurora borealis after Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn, and Boreas, the Greek name for the north wind, and usually appears between the months of September and October, and again from early March to late April. The Cree call it the “Dance of the Spirits”.

The Northern Lights are a widespread motif in Finnish art, and their broad rays of red, yellow, green, blue and violet light long struck terror in the hearts of Scandinavian peoples. The phenomenon was viewed as an omen of terrible misfortune; after all, when the Northern Lights appeared, the sky appeared to be in flames.