A Toast to Change as Crystal Goes Practical
By J. S. MARCUS
Whether you serve your wine in an IKEA glass costing $2.99, or in hand-cut Baccarat crystal costing 50 times as much, sooner or later you'll have one concern—the ring-shaped stains that wineglasses tend to leave behind.
Some new hand-blown crystal stemware is now strong enough to go into the dishwasher, Jeff Marcus reports on Lunch Break. One detail to keep in mind is how the hardness of the water in the dishwasher can affect glasses.
Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has a solution. In collaboration with
Swedish crystal manufacturer Orrefors, he has created a line of hand-made, blown-crystal stemware in which each stem has its own helpful coaster.
Crystal coasters are a sign of change in the rarefied world of high-end stemware. The handcrafted crystal wineglass, long a seldom-used, fragile luxury, is becoming user-friendly—even buyer-friendly—as people look for practical ways to enjoy the good life.
The "Orrefors by Karl Lagerfeld" series comes in six styles, including red and white wine glasses and two styles for champagne. Most are available in black or milk-white ($250 each) or clear crystal ($150). The collection will be available in select Bloomingdale's stores and on the retailer's website in early October, and in Orrefors boutiques and outlets in Europe.
No stemware maker has done this with a coaster before, says Torsten Jansson, founder and principal owner of New Wave Group, the Swedish retail company that owns Orrefors. The series is an attempt to "move fashion into the home," he says.
A coaster may seem like a modest change, but it's big in an industry where one-time innovations can last for decades. "It's a tough business to revolutionize," says Michelle Israel, Bloomingdale's vice president for housewares and tabletop.
Crystal makers want people to break out the good wineglasses more often. In many cases they are recommending the dishwasher, even for hand-made lead crystal. And as glassware becomes trend-conscious and even trendy, price points are coming down.
Baccarat, of France, which has been making crystal the same way for more than 200 years, has lowered prices for an entry-level collection set to launch this fall. Called Lola, it is expected to retail for less than $100 a stem—about a third lower than the average Baccarat wineglass.
"We need to come out with patterns that are much more price accessible," says Michael J. Belleveau, president and chief executive of Baccarat SA's U.S. affiliate. The company's other recent launches include the Mille Nuits line in seven colors, including amethyst and ruby ($175) and Vega martini glasses in three colors ($160). Baccarat has also collaborated with young industrial designers. In 2009, Spanish designer Jaime Hayon, known for his playfulness, created a limited-edition series of colorful, cut-crystal candy dishes. Last year, Marcel Wanders, a pioneering figure of contemporary Dutch design, created stemware with his own image in the glass stems.
Dishwasher-safe crystal eliminates the need for hand washing—the biggest obstacle to frequent use of good stemware. Many premium makers remain wary. Orrefors doesn't recommend the dishwasher for any of its crystal. Baccarat suggests using it with great care. "The most important thing is that glasses are placed in a way so that they don't touch each other," says Jaime Jimenez, Baccarat spokesman.
Since early this year, Riedel, of Austria, says all its stemware, both hand- and machine-made, is dishwasher safe. The company worked with Miele, the German home-appliance maker, which tested Riedel stemware in its new Futura dishwasher. The Futura has more space to accommodate large pieces and minimize jostling. The glasses went through an estimated 20 years' worth of periodic washings and came out fine.
Maximilian J. Riedel, chief executive of Riedel Crystal America, says the testing can "take away consumers' fear" about the dishwasher. Most important, he says, is the water quality, warning that minerals in water can "attack the surface of the glass."
Miele machines are designed to manipulate water hardness, but even if you don't have a Miele, Mr. Riedel says, you can protect fine glassware. For example, Mr. Riedel says he never mixes pots and pans with stemware. "I always open the dishwasher after its cycle" to let out the steam, he adds, which can change the appearance of crystal.
Riedel rattled the stemware business when it came out with its first varietal-specific wineglasses some 30 years ago. Riedel's premise, that the contours of a wineglass can affect the taste of the wine, has been widely influential. Some fine restaurants, though, are taking a simpler approach.
"We just have one glass," says chef Christian Puglisi, whose acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant, Relae, opened last year. Mr. Puglisi, former sous-chef at the celebrated Noma restaurant, chose a standard glass from German brand Spiegelau, now owned by Riedel. "It's elegant, but it doesn't break very easily."
The German brand Schott Zwiesel began marketing durable crystal, patented as "Tritan" glass, to consumers in 2005. Michael J. Ross, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, bought his first Schott Zwiesel glasses, from the brand's Diva series, two years ago. "The stuff is relatively shatter-proof," Mr. Ross says. "It even tends to bounce when you drop it on wood."
At
George Watts & Son, a Milwaukee premium stemware store, buyer Jessica Piorier says consumers are moving away from streamlined designs and toward "heavier, more elaborately cut glass."
Baccarat's Mr. Belleveau agrees. "The consumer today wants a little more stature," he says, noting Baccarat's "tall, majestic" Jupiter line has been a hit. Such designs may deliver more "perceived value for the dollar," he says, and more presence on the table.
Mr. Ross, who divides his time between northern California and New Hampshire, says he enjoys switching between the Diva set, his lightest stemware, and Simon Pearce, glassware known for its clear, heavy pieces. Mr. Ross says when he wants to satisfy an urge for "the opera singer thing," the ability to make a glass vibrate and produce a pitch, he gets out his traditional Prelude crystal from Orrefors. The Schott Zwiesel glasses may be "pragmatic," Mr. Ross says, "but they don't ring."