Our Philosophy: Unique Designs and Handmade Quality
Practical
aspects of buying Czech crystal.
Quality Suppliers = Quality Product
We are very particular about our choice of suppliers and simply
don't deal with companies which produce machine made crystal, even
if the particular item was fully handmade.
All items in our online catalog are 100% handmade of
the highest quality material. Here are a couple of things you should
know about handmade crystal:
-
Stickers identifying a percentage of lead in crystal appear
only on cut crystal. They are not obligatory. Lead is used
to harden the glass enough for cutting. Other metals may be
used to produce non-cut designs and various colors. Whether
called glass or crystal, cut or not, we're dealing in fine
product of the highest quality.
-
Slight shape or size variations among pieces
in a set are a normal result of handmade production.
- You may find small bubbles or impurities in otherwise clear
items, if they're not too close to the surface or an edge or
near a breaking point. The controllers have particular
quality standards for what's defective and what's simply
a result of hand production.
Preferring
Small Businesses
Our producers share our passion for high quality hand made crystal, family
studios or small factories and deal with us one-on-one.
Inventive designs and traditional quality are a matter of pride
for them and a delight for the rest of us.
We mostly carry pieces by contemporary designers and
artists. The glass design business is similar to music, where designers
are paid a small royalty from each piece produced. For this reason,
some companies mass-produce traditional royalty-free domain designs.
We believe we need to support the creativity of our contemporaries.
All products hold a certificate of origin in
the form of:
-
a single certificate per batch that we receive
-
a little card included with each product, sometimes signed
by the artist or quality controller
-
a little sticker with the producer's name or the generic words "Bohemia
Crystal" (those are the little dots you can see on some
of our photos)
-
some art pieces even have the artist's name etched at the
bottom of the piece
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