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.

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.