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Disclaimer: What follows is mostly hearsay and about 12 years out of date.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. -- ============================================================================== 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 {vortex,philabs}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe