Beauty in glass

THE OLDEST manufacturer of glass and crystal ware in Europe, with a glassworks in the Lorraine village of Munzthal (Saint-Louis-les-Bitche) since 1586, Cristalleries de Saint-Louis arrives in Bangkok with the opening of a new Chanintr Living boutique at Siam Paragon showcasing the very best of its collections. 

Steeped in history, the French brand was recognised for its craftsmanship in 1767 when King Louis XV gave permission for the atelier to be called the Royal Glassworks of Saint-Louis. In 1781, the glassworks became the first in continental Europe to produce lead crystal and has not stopped developing since.

“Our factory is still in the same village, we’ve never moved,” says Jerome de Lavergnolle, Saint-Louis’ chief executive.

“We’ve always had the highest reputation in the art of glass and we were very honoured when the King of France give us the title by decree. This is very rare.

“We were the first to find the formula for producing crystal. That was in 1781. The difference between glass and crystal is the lead. If you want crystal, you need to have 30 per cent of lead. It has three main characteristics: sound, weight, and reflection to light.

Even today, Saint-Louis’ draws on its know-how and creativity from the 18th century in developing new collections. The colours of its tableware line are its main characteristics and the classic Tommy hock glassware collection, first manufactured in the 1920s, is still selling well today.

“We came up with the technique for creating double and triple layers of colour. For the first layer, you start blowing the glass with clear crystal. You then put this clear layer into a green layer and combine them together. When you do the cutting, the clear is on the inside and the green on the outside. When you cut the green part, then you see the clear part reappear,” De Lavergnolle explains. 

“There are 300 persons working in Saint-Louis. We are a kingdom of craftsmanship because all the products are blown by mouth. We have no machines. Anyone can visit the factory. We’ve nothing to hide because everything is handmade and we are very proud of that.”

Chandeliers, lighting and tableware all play with clear and cut crystal. The Royal collection features anywhere from four to 200 lights and also offers a wide range of customisable options. A single chandelier offers more than 15,000 possibilities and can be tailored to customer desires.

“The crystal manufacture is very modern while the modelling, which is mouth-blown, the cutting, decoration, finishing and polishing are truly crafted, very traditional,” he says.

“For the lighting, we are very flexible, we can create made-to-measure pieces. The only limit is probably the human limit in terms of size as the modelling is mouth-blown.”

De Lavergnolle adds that the unrivalled French crystal has no specific style. 

“We are a very old lady, at the same time we are a very young lady as well. We collaborate with external artists to create different styles. We can offer customers styles from classic to art deco, from modern to something very different. All our products keep in mind three main aspects: the quality must be perfect, the blend of traditional and modern innovation must be right and the craftsmanship second to none. The Thai market is very interesting because of the long heritage of craftsmanship here. Thai people know what craftsmanship is. They can understand what is behind it,” he concludes.

The Siam Paragon boutique offers the Tommy collection, which is characterised by its star-shaped base and a parison adorned with diamond cuts, the Versailles vase designed in 1921, chandeliers from the classic Royal collection and the modern Vibration collection and Paola Navone’s lights in the form of owls for the Hulotte collection. Other items include light fittings and table lights from the Thistle, Apollo and Matrice collections, limited edition decor products and custom-made chandeliers.