Steuben RIP

The link attached here has brought a deep sense of sadness to me. We
who appreciate quality Art, can only lament the loss of Steuben
Glass. It seems more and more, it is up to the individual artist to
produce the highest quality of his.her art, be it glass, metal,
stone, paint, or the written word.

Born to and raised by European parents, I came to know and love fine
quality, linen, lace, sterling tableware, porcelain, bone china,
crystal, and real jewelry. We were poor as I was a depression baby,
but much of the beautiful stuff had come over on the boat with my
mother. I still love and appreciate down bedding. Bless that every
time i climb into a wonderful bed.

So I lament the loss of an American Fine Art, I hope some form of
nostalgia develops in today’s youth, perhaps at their grandparents
side, which restores a love of fine anything.

If the link does not survive, go to msnbc.msn dot com and search
Business for the story on It’s the end of the line for fancy Steuben
crystal

Sadly,

Terrie
Teresa Masters
www.metalsmith.co

So I lament the loss of an American Fine Art, I hope some form of
nostalgia develops in today's youth, perhaps at their grandparents
side, which restores a love of fine anything. 

Corning is just down the road from me. Surprisingly,I had not heard
about this until now.

Steuben Chrystal was in the later 20th century a sort of corporate
window dressing for a very large company that makes such mundane
products as insulation fiber and affordable dining wares. The company
hit hard times a few years back and sold off Steuben and Corelle and
now seems to be doing pretty well. I am not saying it wasn’t good
stuff, but perhaps Steuben can’t make it without the corporate
sugar-daddy.

But the good news is that Steuben spun off a number of independent
glass studios, several of which are located in storefronts on Market
Street, Corning. It may well be that the factory-made fine crystal is
having trouble competing with the independent artisans. The whole
image of where “art” comes from puts the corporate manufacturer at a
disadvantage if there are independent glass artists doing a good job
in the same market niche.

A father’s brag; my daughter is an engineer in R&D for Corning’s
“Gorilla Glass” That is the very thin, strong, high-tech stuff on the
front of your cell phone. The success of this material is part of the
company’s resurrection.

Stephen Walker

Andover, NY

I join you in your sadness, Teresa. I am fortunate to own a little
piece of Steuben glass - a little rabbit. He is one of my precious
pieces and although I have no idea of his monetary value, he is worth
even more than that to me. I felt the same when Waterford pulled up
stakes. The pursuit of quality is falling back, I fear.

Barbara on a little island where the clouds are hurrying overhead,
bringing us blacker ones all the time.

This says a lot:

“The young folks don’t want it [crystal]. Same thing with silver.
There’s a different attitude. Every year we’re getting further away
from the Victorian love of clutter, quality or not.”

So sad that we are loosing all sorts of “old” traditional operations
around the world!!! Soooo Sad!!!

John Dach

A father's brag; my daughter is an engineer in R&D for Corning's
"Gorilla Glass" That is the very thin, strong, high-tech stuff on
the front of your cell phone. The success of this material is part
of the company's resurrection. 

Thanks for the Gorilla Glass, it’s pretty cool stuff. Good job to
your daughter.

Elaine
CreativeTextureTools.com

Wow, I’m shocked! I remember back in 1983 when I made their sterling
eagle boxes. The company was insistent on absolute perfection,
demanding a flawless rouge finish on their boxes. I respected them
for that.

Another American icon falls - sad.

Jeff Herman

Corning is just down the road from me. Surprisingly,I had not
heard about this until now. 

I’m in the Elmira area, even closer than you. Although I had heard
rumors for a while, it didn’t hit the local news until yesterday. I
suppose there’s some Steuben ware left in the Glass Center store. I
hope the master glass-workers can find employment.

Al Balmer
Pine City, NY

I wrote to Steuben in the hope that they might have some glass
scraps that could be purchased for faceting. They say no, and
furthermore if we had it we wouldn’t give it away or sell it. I
suppose they have concerns about liability.

Forty years ago on a trip to Corning I was fortunate to find the
location of one of their old dumps. I dug around the edges with my
only tool on hand, a old screwdriver, and was able to unearth some
pieces of glass which looked like they had been poured out of a
crucible - thick, tubular, and snake-like. I’ve cut some pretty gems
from it. Of course I can’t be sure it is Steuben.

I recently received from a friend a piece of glass allegedly from a
window made for a lunar module. This glass has the highest
refractive index of anything I have ever seen, and it makes beautiful
gems. As you might imagine, that stuff is not in very great supply.

On the other hand, I’ve cut some pretty gems from a Pyrex baking
dish I got at a garage sale for a dime. And even from the handle of a
clear glass coffee cup.

I’m not much of a jeweler so mostly I mount in Tripps mounts which
are just about right for my level of skill.

Sorry for the ramble. Messin’ with jewelry-making sometimes addles
the mind!

John

John Moe
Pentaluna Jewels
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Pentaluna

On the other hand, I've cut some pretty gems from a Pyrex baking
dish I got at a garage sale for a dime. And even from the handle
of a clear glass coffee cup. 

I keep a supply of broken TV picture tube glass for test cuts. The
high lead content raises the RI significantly.

Al Balmer
Pine City, NY

I keep a supply of broken TV picture tube glass for test cuts. The
high lead content raises the RI significantly.

I’d be cautious about breaking TV tubes specifically though - the
phosphors are apparently very toxic.

Kit

I'd be cautious about breaking TV tubes specifically though - the
phosphors are apparently very toxic. 

Picture tubes are vacuum tubes, when broken all the material will go
toward the center, then it flies outward as a result of the impact of
material smashing together.

Richard Hart G.G.
Denver, Co.

" I’d be cautious about breaking TV tubes specifically" Don’t try
this at home kids. One fourth of July,(my birthday), I shot a couple
of old tube TVs. They make a spectacular noise and explosion.

Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
Jo Haemer
www.timothywgreen.com

If you look at the rear of the tube between the pins there is often a
fused tube where they suck the air out and then seal. Just break this
bit and it just sucks air in and don’t go bang. But I would still
cover the whole thing with a pile of thick blankets to be on the
safe side.