Most people think that crystal is a fairly classic item, used only for special occasions.

You're wondering why I'm telling you about the evolution of crystal?

Do you think it's an elite, fragile object?

You don't dare to use it? Or even worse, you like crystal but you don't want to buy it for fear of never using it.

Because for you, it has always remained an object that gathers dust on a shelf or that you use twice a year.

If you knew...

Are you wondering why crystal was invented?

What led us to create these precious objects?

This seems like a silly question.

But you will see that crystal has a real story.

Moreover, what you may not know is that the work and use of this noble material has evolved considerably over the years.

The only thing that won't change is its exceptional character, and its brilliance.

As I told you in the previous article ("The difference between glass and crystal: 4 simple steps to understand everything") only crystal can be worked in this way. Which will always make it unique.

Okay, let's stop beating around the bush. You're probably curious to know how crystal came to be on earth.

At the end of this article you will know the history of crystal.

You will understand the evolution that crystal has undergone.

Today it remains an accessible object. And much easier to use than one might imagine.

Finally, it is to answer all these questions that I decided to write this article for you.

We'll start with a little history.

Step 1: The history of crystal.

The discovery of the crystal was, like many other inventions, accidental.

It dates back to ^the 17th century in England , when the British Admiralty, in order to ensure the production of the masts for the ships it needed, decided to ban the use of wood as fuel.

Glassmakers therefore turned to other sources of energy such as the recently discovered coal.

Melting the glass in open refractory pots, however, the glassmakers found that an interaction occurred between the composition and the fusion due to the carbon monoxide and gave the glass a brownish coloring.

To overcome this serious drawback, glassmakers began to work with covered furnaces.

Around 1675, George Ravenscroft introduced a metallic oxide (techniques he is said to have learned in Venice).

Having the property of accelerating fusion, lead oxide was added to the composition. To their surprise, the glassmakers found that, thanks to this metallic oxide, they obtained a glass with exceptional brilliance and sound.

Well now that you know how crystal appeared in our world I will explain to you how it evolved.

Step 2: The evolution of the Crystal trade.

Originally, all crystal factories produced almost exclusively tableware. However, the evolution of distribution networks and consumption patterns has significantly changed the situation.

For example, 25 years ago, wedding lists could represent nearly 40% of turnover compared to less than 3% today.

The crystal factories were thus faced with the need to find new outlets.

French crystal manufacturers have been able to innovate in the fields of interior decoration, lighting , jewelry and art publishing by relying on the creativity of big names in design.

We had to adapt to new customer demands.

On the one hand, a clientele looking for very exclusive products that they will not find anywhere else.

Real works of art in crystal. (Like what you will find in the exceptional objects on the Artisan du Cristal website)

And on the other hand, a clientele looking for a product at an affordable price, of quality, made in France , which will last over time.

To do this, many crystal houses have created several ranges to satisfy all their customers.

At Artisan du cristal we have created two ranges:

A very exclusive one (which also includes contemporary furniture) and another where you will find very affordable prices.

And yes, that's the advantage of selling directly. We have no intermediary. Which allows us to offer you very interesting offers.

When we make special productions we are obliged to produce around 10% more which are then sold in the workshop shop or on the website at unbeatable prices.

Another thing is to be emphasized.

It is the evolution of forms.

These are increasingly modern and refined. Designed for everyday use.

Step 3: The evolution of the crystal design.

To adapt, it was also necessary to create new, much more refined services, while retaining the signature know-how of the master crystal maker.

But first of all we are going to go over a little history.

In ^the 17th and 18th ^centuries , France , whose prestige was so important for the arts, furniture, goldwork and ceramics, produced some very beautiful utilitarian glass objects but very few sumptuous and decorated pieces.

In the 18th ^century , several wines were sometimes tasted during the same meal, but the idea of ​​presenting a series of glasses on the table, each for an appropriate use, spread at the beginning of the 19th ^century .

The service models created during the Restoration period are still classics of French bourgeois taste today.

You will easily recognize these classic shapes from the 17th ^century . Complex shapes with lots of gilding. Patterns cut into the crystal, which are often covered with precious metals.

For example, here are some photos of the Prestige Gold Service that I make in my workshops:

A very exclusive, elegant service that matches very well with the first crystal glass services that were created.

A flat ribbed cut on the chalice that extends over the leg to finish on the fully cut hexagonal foot. Which gives these glasses an even more majestic side.

When the continent adopted English lead glass, the French began to colour it, to obtain opal crystals better known as "Opalines", then the "paperweights" which would fascinate the writer Colette and the couturier Jeanne Lanvin a century later.

Here is a photo of the famous Roemers, which were among the first creations of colored crystal glasses.

The photo of a crystal paperweight that you can find on our site.

At the beginning of the 1900s, we will see the appearance of increasingly modern forms.

The transition from the 19th to the 20th century was a period of rediscovery of the vocabulary of purity, through the great universal exhibitions which presented a new repertoire of forms, the simplicity of which would captivate artists and revolutionize the modern project.

These introduce, into the evolution of modern art, both an alternative to the eloquence of the body and the hypothesis of a universalism of forms.

At this time, the debates that arose in physics, mathematics, biology and aesthetics had major consequences on mechanics, industry, architecture and art in general.

In 1912, while visiting the Salon de la locomotion aérienne with Constantin Brancusi and Fernand Léger, Marcel Duchamp stopped in front of an airplane propeller and exclaimed: "Painting is dead. Who can do better than this propeller?"

Laurent Le Bon, who is the president of the Picasso Museum in Paris, will say: "I will perhaps explain simple forms by antithesis: they are neither simplistic, nor negative, nor rapid, nor minimalist. They are precisely, perhaps, very complex forms, but which have the appearance of simplicity."

Finally, it is from this period that we will begin to speak of “purified forms”.

Here is an archive photo of a factory from the end of the ^19th century:

To give you an example of a simple shape, here are some pictures.

The Oenologist service:

Or the Riviera Service:

To you