Waterford Crystal is named for the town of Waterford, not the other way around, as the town residents are quick to point out. Crystal making in Waterford, Ireland, dates back to 1783 when production of excellent flint glass began there. The glass became world-renowned, but the company closed in 1851.
In 1947, a Czech immigrant started a new glassworks in Waterford. Ownership moved around as the business expanded, but in 2009 the large Waterford factory outside of town closed due to the bankruptcy of its parent corporation.
An American group reopened a new smaller Waterford factory in downtown Waterford in 2010. Waterford Crystal is now owned by a Finnish corporation. Most Waterford crystal is produced in countries outside of Ireland, such as Slovenia, The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Germany. Most of the crystal made in the Waterford, Ireland factory is specialty work. Still, the Waterford, Ireland, factory melts over 750 tons of crystal a year.
The Waterford plant has a factory tour and is the home of the largest collection of Waterford Crystal in the world. My mother loved Waterford crystal. A factory tour was a must-do.
Production items begin with a glass blower getting a molten glob of glass on his blowing tube and shaping it.
The glass is further shaped to resemble the mold.
Then the molten glass is placed in the mold, and the blower expands the glass to the mold shape.
The finished mold shape is then removed from the blow tube.
The hot glass is put in an oven and slowly cooled to keep it from cracking. Blown glass goes through many inspections. The first check is to see if there are any imperfections, like bubbles, that cannot be cut out in the design phase. If there are, it is broken and sent back to be re-melted.
Designs are carefully calculated,
And drawing on the glass.
Common patterns are memorized by the cutters, who apprentice for five years. Too shallow, and the design does not show. Too deep, and you cut through the piece.
There are hundreds of cutting wheels that the designs require.
The stages of a bowl go from 1. blowing, to 2. adding the design lines, to 3. cutting the design, and then to 4. an acid bath that cleans and thins the glass.
Specialty work is similar but more complicated. A wood mold is a hand carved for the shapes required. A wood mold can be used no more than five times.
They let us hold a few specialty items with flaws, so we would not have to pay the $10,000 to $50,000 price if we dropped one.
These are some of the specialty items in the Waterford collection.
Waterford makes a lot of sports trophies.
This 9/11 memorial artwork was exceptional.
All Helyn needed was five gallons of wine and a straw for this bad boy.
The best of all was this glass harp, the symbol of Ireland.
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