Most of our glass, from glassware and serveware, to lighting and Christmas decorations, is made from recycled glass. The recycling process starts with the collection of waste glass. The different colours of glass are sorted into piles, washed to remove any impurities, and finally crushed and melted down. The molten glass forms the base to create new products, either handblown or placed in bespoke moulds to create beautiful new products.
Visiting our glass supplier is in many ways like stepping back in time. The traditional ways of working are still very much evident. Glass blowing involves artisans blowing air into molten glass, creating striking organic shapes and designs. We also use moulds to shape a product. This involves creating a design, then carving the shape into a heatproof case. The glass is then blown into the mould and fired in the kiln. Our coloured glass is never sprayed but the colour is embedded in the glass. This not only makes it food-safe but offers a purity of colour and improves the overall quality of the piece.
Traditional glass making techniques are very much kept alive in the creation of our glassware; the organic shapes in many of our pieces clearly illustrate this natural handmade process. As with all our collections we find it an exciting process creating new designs and finishes.
The glass makers nimbly flip and shape the molten glass with extraordinary speed and skill. Their experience means they seem to instinctively know the motions, somehow transforming a blob of molten glass into a beautiful and useful item. Using recycled glass means there are sometimes small air bubbles found in the finish of the glass. A feature that we believe adds to the look of the piece.
