Why does OertelCrystal use different types of glass?
Why do we have glass made of lead crystal, crystal glass or colored glass in our assortment?
The different types of glass are necessary and advantageous because we offer glasses and vases with very different finishing techniques. Depending on the decor, we choose the most suitable type of glass. This is important for later processing, because for deep cut patterns we need appropriate wall thicknesses, but the mouth edge must not be too thick.
Cut crystal glass
We use lead crystal for heavy hand-cut design glassware such as our Rosengarden and Karlgarden series. In the glassworks, lead crystal remains more viscous and workable for a longer time. The glassmakers say the glass is “long”. With lead crystal it is easy to realize different wall thicknesses in one glass
Lead crystal is softer when cut and less brittle than crystal glass. It does not break as quickly as crystal glass. Lead crystal is not suitable for glass painting, because it deforms when the painting is burned in at about 510°C. Gold rims can just be burned in, but enamel colors cannot.
Crystal glass can also be blown much thinner than lead crystal. For some decorations a thin glass fits better. Crystal glass also has another advantage: fine engravings look much nicer on crystal glass than on lead crystal. This applies for example to our series Papagena.
How can you tell the difference between lead crystal and crystal glass?
It is very difficult. Lead crystal is in principal heavier than crystal glass, but the weight of a glass depends mainly on the wall thickness. Thick glasses are simply heavier than thin ones . It has nothing to do with whether they are made of lead crystal or crystal glass or plain glass.
The sound of Crystal Glass
A very clear misinformation is that lead crystal sounds better when bumped, this is not true at all. Both sound beautiful when the glass is not too full!
In general, I would refrain from the German way of toasting (gently bumping the crystal glasses) !
Joh. Oertel & Co.Kristallglas
Petra M. Schütte
P.S. next time: colored glass, optical glass
OertelCrystal