This question has come up many times especially since we started selling hand crafted crystal and art glass awards so I decided to make this my this weeks blog topic. Yes ! even a good quality crystal can have fine lines and bubbles. However a good quality Optic Crystal should [...]
This question has come up many times especially since we started selling hand crafted crystal and art glass awards so I decided to make this my this weeks blog topic.
Yes ! even a good quality crystal can have fine lines and bubbles. However a good quality Optic Crystal should not have any fine lines or bubbles. But remember despite having bubbles and fine lines many times crystal can be more expensive than optic crystal and things made from art glass even more expensive. Having fine lines or bubbles is not the only deciding factor for either price or quality of a product. Confused. Don’t worry. Just read on and in a matter of minutes you will have more clarity on what is Optic Crystal, Crystal and Art Glass?
Firstly all crystal or optic crystal or art glass or lead glass or float glass belong to one family Glass. Yes you have read it right even crystal is fundamentally glass.
Glass is turned into crystal by adding lead oxide. Lead oxide makes the glass clear, heavier, softer and more refractive. There are many different grades of crystal depending on how much lead is added to glass. Again content of lead alone may not qualify for a better quality of crystal. A number of other factors such as final application the process of making are equally important.
Many of the crystal items are made directly from molten glass either by hand or by machines and this is the reason why fine lines and tiny bubbles can come while making pieces as air tries to escape hot molten glass. But with advance techniques and using better quality raw material and workmanship this can be avoided in a machine controlled environment like when drinking glasses are made but when it comes to handcrafting each piece which is especially the case in our awards industry this is is not possible and fine lines and bubbles are bound to come in lead crystal pieces. Click here to see an Example of Lead Crystal Award, Hand crafted Crystal Award.
Optic Crystal on the other hand is 100% lead free crystal. This type of crystal is very hard and perfect for engraving. 90% of our crystal awards are made of Optic Crystal. Within Optic Crystal also there are various varieties the best among the lot is K9 A grade crystal. This is the crystal which does not have a yellowish tinge or turn yellow with time. In this crystal having fine lines and even small bubbles inside the crystal is a poor sign of quality. Click here to see our range of Optic Crystal Awards.
Hope this help. As always please share your comments below and if there is some new knowledge you can share I would be happy to learn.
