Italian glassware: the precious tradition that shines on the table
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” Don’t see if your glass is half full or half empty. See how much light the crystal reflects.” More than an invitation to optimism Fabrizo Caramagna’s aphorism is an invitation to luxury, as if to say that until there will be crystal glasses on our tables, everything else is not so important. In the market of the household items and high quality furnitures ,an increasing branch, the luxury Italian glassware is an élite product that has its roots in the manual and handcrafted tradition Made in Italy and in the big Italian passion for the precious transparent material that greets the light with an enchanting hug.
The Italian glassware: from Tuscany to the most luxurious houses of the world
The history of the Italian luxury glassware dates back to the distant Middle Ages in Colle Val D’Elsa , the Tuscan land rebaptised “Italian Bohemia”. Maybe not everyone knows that here it is produced the 14% of the world crystal and also the 95% of the Italian one. In 1300 started to rise the first artisan glassmakers, but only in the mid-eighteenth arised the first real factory of refined crystals within the Augustinian convent. From here the most precious objects left to adorn the tables of the high nobility in the daily life or the tables of the middle classes in the special occasions. The crystal has always been cherished for its brilliance , due to the presence of the lead oxide that increases the refrax index of the glass and so also the brightness. However the lead is a pollutant substance and many Italian glasswares are looking for ecological solutions that keep the brightness of the crystal , respecting the environment. Today the excellent products of the Italian glassware have the logo of quality that certifies the careful selection of the raw materials: “Tuscan Colle di Val d’Elsa Crystal”. Among the Tuscan hills the tradition continue salso with the annual show “ Crystal among the walls” . All the glasswares and the artisan workshops open their doors and fill the old town with light and beauty. On display for 365 days there are the crystal masterpiecesof the big glassmakers of Colle within the Crystal Museum , that rises where once there were historical Boschi Glasswares.
New glassware Cev in Ponte a Elsa
IVV- Industria Vetraria Valdarnese (Glass factory) in San Giovanni Valdarno
An operating company from 1952 that, thanks to the careful selection of the raw materials and to the skill of the masters glassmakers , creates unique pieces in the world. The attention goes also on the environment: so the company has chosen to use ecological glass and to delete from its production the polluting substances.
Collevilca
Two generations united by the passion for the glass. The appeal of the antiques mixes with the new ones , among traditional manifacturing phases and innovative production technology.
RCR Italian glassware
It started in 1967 from the fusion of two handcrafted glassware, RCR has been for decades among the first producers of the world in the branch of the table cystal . Excellence and respect for the environment are the imperatives of this Italian furm that produces its objects in LUXION® eco-crystalglass, the first real ecological crystal patented by RCR. The resistance is one of the main qualities if the RCR crystals , that can be washed in the dishwasher remaining shiny and bright. The chalices and glasses are very refined , coloured, cut, drawn and custom-made for the clients who has the possibility of personalise them, as in the best luxury traditions. Handcrafted top quality products, in accordance with of Italian glassware tradition.
Italian glassware : the glassmakers in Empoli, a history of quality
Moving along the Italian boot and leaving the Tuscan land we arrive in Milan, in Montenapoleone 22nd street, where the high Italian glassware is required by the client of all the world. What is the most bought collection from the luxury lovers? “Capriccio”, made by gold or platinum glasses carved in the solid block. What is the latest invention? “Gira e rigira”, the chalice that swings thanks to a sphere bearing, making the sommelier’s gesture magic. The Italian glassware “Vetrerie di Empoli” has conquered many exceptional clients over the years, from Maria Callas to Campari, from Anna Bonomi Bolchini to Cella della Durban’s, from Moratti to Berlusconi. 50 pieces per day made from 5 artisans , keeping an intact quality as at the time of Ugo Parentini, founder of the workshop in 1838. His son Franco believes in the importance to bring on the tables the good food in good taste objects : “ But is it conceivable to serve a 0,50 wine bottle made by machine and of moderate quality?” There isn’t any risk choosing the beautiful Italian crystal chalices.
Bring on the table the beauty, adorn the house with precious and top quality objects: who chooses the Italian glassware gives to himself the light , the luxury and the tradition. In the land of the sun everything has to shine , inside and outside. And then you can celebrate every time you want to with glasses, chalices and crystal vases designed and created by the competent hands of Italian masters glassmakers. No detail is left to chance , to offer to the luxury objects lovers more than simple products with wich furnish and set the tables. The crystal is magic that renews at each glare, and in the glare that lights the Italian glassware there is all the history of an artisan who survives to the modernity , that endures to the time challlenge , that makes eternal and immortal the charm of a special glass, the lure of the crystal.
This post is also available in: Italiano