~ the holy grail of crystal vessels.

The big debate raged around our glassworks. Would we ever make a crystal that’s not cut?

We know many sommeliers and wine connoisseurs consider the colour of wine such an integral part of the pleasure, they won’t put their persnickety lips to a piece of cut crystal that may alter the effect of the colour.

For many others, a part of the joy of cut crystal is tactile. Tracing the outline of an intricate pattern or a single smooth curve as you sip your wine is a pleasure they would sadly miss.

Finally, we hit on the solution. It wasn’t so much a compromise as a way to have our cake and a beautifully coloured wine to accompany it.

We’ve created stemware with a pristine, uncut bowl resting on a foot with beveled cuts radiating from the centre. It accomplishes the seeming contradiction of being both clear and cut.

A finely balanced glass, it manages to be lightweight and still have a satisfying heft. It’s delicate without being fragile, substantial without being heavy.

Its elegant shape is designed to enhance your experience of red wine, blending the aromas and channeling the flow to the appropriate areas of your tongue.

With the next pot, we will be introducing clear stemware for white wine.

As is our practice, we tested our design with wine experts before offering it to our customers. The approval was passionate. This is a glass that permits all the pleasure that can be wrung from a grape.

The Making of Clear Stemware

To the uninitiated, the crafting of clear crystal may seem no different, perhaps even easier, than producing our cut stemware. Not so.

Creating mouth-blown crystal that won’t be cut is an exacting process in a craft that is already highly demanding.

At the beginning of a production shift, the molten crystal is at its hottest. During the shift, as the craftsmen extract gathers of crystal, the temperature inside the pot drops.

This leaves only a brief window, not too hot and not too cool, when the temperature and viscosity of the crystal is capable of producing the thinner walls needed to create the bowls of clear stemware.

Also, blowing a thinner bowl requires the deft touch usually only found in a long-time master. This is a job for our most seasoned craftsmen.

As to creating a piece that is clear in one area and cut in another, that’s even more challenging. To our knowledge, we are the only crystal maker to accomplish the feat.

Our clear stemware is the expression of a concept first articulated in a poem by Robert Browning and since recognized and embraced by all the creative arts, from architecture to literature. Less is indeed more.

Given the nature of production, these beautiful glasses will be made in limited quantities from each pot. To order online, click here.