PRODUCT CARE INSTRUCTIONS
Due to the delicate nature of glass and crystal, hand washing is recommended. Dry with a lint-free cloth to prevent scratching. To avoid breakage, do not expose glass or crystal to extreme temperatures or to abrupt temperature changes.

Glass
The process of glassmaking has remained essentially the same since ancient times. Most glass is a mixture of silica, obtained from beds of fine sand or from pulverized sandstone, an alkali to lower the melting point, usually a form of soda or potash for finer glass, lime as a stabilizer and cullet (waste glass to assist in melting the mixture).  The materials are fused at high temperatures in seasoned kilns, boiled down, skimmed, and cooled several hundreds of degrees.
The molten glass is ladled or poured into molds and pressed or blown (sometimes into molds). The shaped glass is annealed to relieve stresses caused by manipulation, then is slowly cooled.

Non-Lead Crystal/Crystalline
Non-lead crystal is glass with a high content of potash, yielding weight, clarity and sparkle without adding lead content.

Full Lead Crystal*
The addition of lead to the glassmaking process yields a product with increased luster, clarity and weight. It is also a slightly softer material than glass, which lends itself well to hand cutting and polishing. Leaded crystal varies in lead composition, but to be considered full lead crystal, the lead content must be 24% or higher. The higher the lead content, the more sparkle is achieved, but more skill is required to form a shape at the blowing stage.

Optical Crystal
Optical crystal is among the finest of all crystals available. With no lead content, it is clarified to a 100% optically clear state by the addition of barium, which results in a perfectly flawless clear glass that shines brightly under any light source. Optical crystal is manufactured in large thick sheets, and while still molten, is subjected to tremendous pressure to insure no bubbles, flow lines or other distortion. Optical crystal is 100% lead free and extremely hard.

Starfire Crystal
Starfire crystal is a lead-free, low iron product that presents high clarity resembling that of optical crystal, but at lower cost. Highly polished, this material produces a bright white sparkle and is therefore sometimes referred to as “white glass”.

Cased Crystal
A unique artistic technique where clear crystal is permanently encased in a translucent layer of richly colored crystal.