[net.consumers] Waterford Crystal

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Disclaimer:  What follows is mostly hearsay and about 12 years out of date.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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