Crystal creation by cristal d’arques : crystal cutting, crystal matting, cristal engraving

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.


	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.


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.