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CREATION
The sweet dish reinvented
Object reinvention
Crystal care CDA recommendation : Water
CDA Dishwashers Crystal Care instructions
Crystal’s in!
Creation

Seeing a table sparkling with carafes and glasses we might easily believe the purity of crystal to be Nature’s gift, but this is not really the case. Crystal is in fact the end result of experimentation, hesitation, risk-taking and, finally, the painstaking quest for perfection. And because perfection is infinite, Cristal d’Arques Paris is constantly bringing out the best in the material by moulding it into different shapes and embellishing it with various motifs.
In order to do this, Cristal d’Arques Paris expertly applies the three main types of finish: cutting, matting and engraving.


The Longchamp Collection



Cutting

This process offers several possibilities (bevelled cut, diamond cut, matt cut) using different wheels to produce different cuts. The crystal is given fine incisions, carved and hollowed out in different thicknesses and following a pattern.
At this stage in the process, the item is what is known as ‘rough cut’. In order to obtain a ‘smooth cut’, i.e. a sparkling surface, it’s polished again. The item is then immersed in an acid bath or polished mechanically, which restores its shine.
Installed in Arc International’s workshops in 1969, Cristal d’Arques Paris’s first crystal-cutting machine was used in the production of the Tuileries collection.


Collection Florence

The Florence Collection




Matting

In order to make crystal opaque, the master crystal maker uses the matting technique, also known as frosting. This tarnishing process consists of filing down the crystal’s smooth and shiny surface. But only in certain areas, as the rest are masked off and remain clear and transparent. This stage complete, the crystal is then made shiny by engraving or by sandblasting, the high-speed firing of fine grains of sand that gives the surface a pitted appearance. Finally, the item is brushed clean. The first item to be produced using this technique was Florence, in 1985.


 
Zoom Arabesque

The Arabesque Collection




Engraving

The engraving technique makes the addition of monograms and arabesques possible, using acid or lasers.

In the first case, the item is plunged into an acid bath. The acid eats into the crystal, giving it its decoration, and the ‘reserved’ parts, protected beforehand, avoid being corroded and remain intact.

In the second, lasers are used to engrave the decoration. An ultra thin but intense ray – or rather beam – of light is passed through a lens and burns the pattern on to the crystal.

In 1976, the newly perfected 3D laser engraving technique meant that the engraving process could be automated. The Matignon range was the result.


Creation
The sweet dish reinvented
Crystal care CDA recommendation : Water
Crystal’s in!
CDA Dishwashers Crystal Care instructions
Object reinvention
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