hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (Jerry Hollombe) (01/25/85)
Disclaimer: What follows is mostly hearsay and about 12 years out of date.
About twelve years ago I was living in London and was employed for a while
by a company that manufactured and sold hand-cut lead crystal. Though I
can't claim to be an expert, I did learn more about the subject than I
really wanted to know. Among other things, I soon learned that Waterford
is considered second rate, at best ("crap" is the strongest term I heard
used), by those who really know their crystal.
Some window shopping and browsing around London seemed to confirm this. I
often saw Waterford crystal for sale with flaws that wouldn't even have
been sold as seconds by some of the other manufacturers. Not just poor
quality crystal, but sloppy, indifferent cutting as well. Some
irregularities are to be expected in handwork, of course, but this looked
like an apprentice's practice work.
A fellow employee at the crystal factory explained that Waterford spends a
lot of money on publicity to maintain their reputation. They are also one
of the largest crystal manufacurers in the world. Most of the really good
stuff is made by small companies for the home market and seldom gets
exported.
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The Polymath (Jerry Hollombe)
Citicorp TTI If thy CRT offend thee, pluck
3100 Ocean Park Blvd. it out and cast it from thee.
Santa Monica, California 90405
(213) 450-9111, ext. 2483
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