In my experience most rare Kivi colors are alpha green, amethyst, and mondongreen.
Especially excellent alpha green and mondongreen Kivi votives are almost impossible to find, because they are old. Commonly they also have bubbles, cold stripes, mold failures, and color failures. The stickers are usually bad or taken away.
Some collectors say that there is only one real mondongreen variant, and all the other close variants are mixed color Kivi votives. I am not sure if they are right. Sometimes the color hue is the same, but it is a little darker or paler than the usual "real" mondongreen color. In my opinion those pieces can be variants.
If the hue is different from my reference mondongreen Kivi, I classify it to be a mixed color. These three votives are compared to my reference votive on two last pictures.
#2716 mondongreen Kivi is a collector´s piece even it is not perfect. It is in almost excellent condition with no marks of usage. Near to bottom, on the surface may be seen some slight cold stripes. On the bottom appear some cold circles. I found about ten tiny bubbles. No mold number. An old vertical white texted Iittala sticker is excellent.
#2890 Kivi is probably a mixed color mondongreen: the (blueish) color is not as intensive as in my reference Kivi (last pictures). Because of bubbles it must be a factory second quality product too. On the surface appear one large bubble, about five little bubbles and a lot of tiny bubbles. Near to bottom can be seen some cold stripes. No marks of usage. No mold number or sticker.
#2986 mondongreen Kivi is in good vintage condition: some slight and tiny scratches can be found from the surface. I found one small bubble from the surface plus few tiny ones. On the surface appears also one darker color failure spot (or scratch). The area´s diameter is about 2 mm. No mold number. The sticker is missing.
Please, check also Kivi clearance options: nine distinct colors. Minus 25 percent.
https://www.etsy.com/fi-en/listing/1715699863/clearance-25-off-from-some?click_key=40c77789f4e7425c7f06b95f5db920e6ea91ee5b%3A1715699863&click_sum=62232c37&ref=shop_home_active_1
NOTICE: Some Kivi votives are not yet vintage. Anyway, they are popular collectibles.
Even Iittala Kivi colors are not always easy to separate from each other, you can be sure that these Kivi colors are those that are mentioned. That is because I compare every Kivi with my own collection´s colors. Look at my home site: https://www.juhaollila.net/marimekko-kivi-votives-mainsite
There I present photos of my own Kivi items side by side in groups of three colors. To every photo I have tried to choose colors that are difficult to separate from each other.
Kivi (Stone in English) candle holders are small jewels of light designed by Heikki Orvola in 1988. The votives enrich the flame’s glow and multiplies it. Iittala glass experts create Kivi using solid color for the glass mass instead of merely coloring the glass from the surface which makes the color especially rich. Kivi is available in several assorted colors – now 48 - each with their own special Iittala glass recipe.
So, first Kivi votives were published in 1988. They were first made by traditional Finnish Nuutajärvi glassworks. After 1995 Iittala has made them in cooperation with marimekko concern. I suppose the reason was that marimekko brand was well known around the world. The same cooperating is seen on Mariskooli bowls; even the used colors on Kivi and Mariskooli items are the same (and called with the same names). That's why there appear marks of two brands on Kivi votives: the Iittala sticker and marimekko name molded on the bottom.
They started to use mold numbers on the bottoms in the years 2003-2004. If the mold number doesn't appear, Kivi is made before the year 2003.
Red Iittala sticker talks about the item`s age too: in the year 2001 the text's color changed from white to black.
There are forty-seven assorted colors published until October 2021, and they are not always easy to identify from each other. In addition, there is one more problem: väliväri (in Finnish) meaning colors in between or mixed colors. They are not official colors.
Väliväri Kivi votives are made, when they change the glass mass from one color to another during the manufacturing procedure. Usually, those colors are for sale as second quality (and with no sticker). They can be even more valuable than normal colors because they are rarer.
Measurements:
Height 60 mm
Diameter 65 mm
Hole diameter 44 mm
Volume 8 cl
Weight 280-330 g (as they are mouth blown into molds the weight varies depending on the bottom thickness).
The price is for one Kivi votive.
Shipping cost is according 1.0 kg weight on the chart.
This chart is shown on the shop´s main site: the middle “item” of the featured listings.
There are told also some practical tips about orders and shipping.
I combine shipping for multiple orders.
Do not hesitate to contact me in any questions!
I will answer you usually in ten hours.
