Cumbria Crystal
A winning piece
Finished using an unusual crackle effect, no two awards are exactly the same
Awarded businesses will receive a unique crystal bowl made by the artisan team at Cumbria Crystal
If you’re an avid fan of Downton Abbey, you may well have noticed the stunning crystal glassware that appears in certain scenes. When the Crawley family sit down for a grand dinner, it is Cumbria Crystal’s Grasmere Collection that graces the table – and the company is now at the heart of the King’s Awards, producing this year’s striking looking award. Finished in an unusual crackle effect, the award is created by dipping the glass in a bucket of cold water whilst it’s red hot and then, just before it shatters, it is put back into 1600 centigrade heat and fused back together. As such, no two pieces can be the same. “As the last remaining luxury crystal manufacturer in the UK, with a reputation for quality, we were approached by the King’s Awards Office to make this year’s award,” says CEO of Cumbria Crystal Chris Blade. “All of our products are made by hand,
using heritage processes passed down through the generations. We aspire to make the best handmade crystal in the world, without compromise.” Founded in 1976 by Lord and Lady Cavendish, together with a small group of local business people, an artisan workforce was initially recruited from Stourbridge – historically the heart of the English crystal industry. A team of craftspeople later re- located to Ulverston at the southern edge of the English Lake District, and Cumbria Crystal now employs 14 experts at its factory, where visitors can watch the alchemy of traditional crystal making from the factory’s viewing areas. Each King’s Awards winners’ bowl takes several hours to make, carefully crafted by Cumbria Crystal’s artisan glass makers, using the finest lead crystal. Incredibly highly trained, each of the company’s glass blowers
train for 15 years before they can create the hand crafted pieces the company has become famous for worldwide. Fit for a King To celebrate King Charles III’s Coronation, Cumbria Crystal is crafting a limited edition gold gilded crystal baluster. A true work of art, each baluster takes 10 days to make, with each piece hand blown by Master Blowers Steve McDougal, Andrew Round and Adele Clark before being hand cut by Master Cutter Robert Thomson. The King’s royal cypher and the Coronation emblem are engraved by hand by Master Engraver Anton Satterthwaite, and the crystal is then adorned with 24 carat gold gilding. The baluster pays tribute to Cumbria Crystal’s royal heritage, as in 1985 Queen Elizabeth II was gifted a pair of gold gilded balusters after visiting the factory.
www. kingsawardsmagazine .com
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