The story behind the legendary Lenox crystal

MOUNT PLEASANT - 'We feel our quality is the best,' states Lenox plant manager Ross Houser. He adds that they invite anyone to compare Lenox to Waterford or other crystal, and comments that they have arranged comparisons.

'We put it out on the table with other crystal and let people decide,' says Houser, confident from past experience that Lenox will be the crystal of choice.

Lenox Crystal was built on the foundation of Bryce Brothers who brought the industry to Hammondville, a village just outside of Mount Pleasant, in 1893.

Bryce Glass was renown for its hand decorating. Pieces were hand cut, sandblasted, etched, or gilded (today called banding), all of which Lenox continues on its current line.

These decorations would mean little, though, without quality crystal pieces to display them.

Production manager Bill Laura explains that making crystal begins with a combination of 'batch and cullet.' Batch is a mixture of silica and other components that is carefully monitored to meet Lenox's high standards.

Cullet is made of broken pieces of crystal and recycled into the process.

This mixture is melted in a furnace that runs 24 hours per day.

Lenox crystal has an automated line as well as a 'hand shop.' The automated line, the only 100 percent automated crystal in the world, begins with molten glass delivered to an automated 'gob feeder.' This feeder portions the appropriate amount of glass to make the bowl of the stemware being produced from a small wine glass to a large iced tea glass.

The bowl of the stemware is sent to 'stem press' where the stem of the glass is added, and then to a 'stem-foot' machine where the foot is made.

Laura says when running at full capacity, this line can produce five pieces of stemware per minute.

Controller Donna Malesky says, 'When I started here, it took 12 people to do this job. Now it takes two.'

She explains, 'It's not because we don't like people. We had to do it to stay competitive.'

The hand shop makes Lenox truly unique. The molten glass is pulled from the furnace on the end of pipe and blown into a hollow ball. Another artisan rolls it to a desired size and shape. A 'peg' of molten glass is added for a worker of great skill to draw out a stem; and the process is similarly repeated to form the foot. There is nothing else like this production of fine crystal in the entire United States.

'This requires the most coordination of anything in the plant-to keep the glass on (the bowl) and bring it down to form a stem and a foot,' comments Laura.

Of the approximately 175 Lenox employees, 46 are skilled glassworkers.

After stemware is formed and at other points in production, pieces are heated in a 'Lehr' which raises the temperature of the glass to over 900 degrees, relieving any stress in the piece.

Lenox also assures quality by re-melting and stress relieving the top rim of stemware to give it durability. Stemware is then inspected before it moves on to be decorated.

Like crystal production some decorating is automated and some is done by hand. In the automated process, eight pieces of an item from large giftware to small glasses are cut with diamond tipped blades according to a pattern entered into the machine's computer.

Cutting glass by hand is done by only two hand cutters who do light cutting to create delicate patterns, or by master glasscutter Peter O'Rourke who does deep cutting and engraving. O'Rourke is one of only about 10 master glasscutters in the United States. He creates trophies such as those presented by the LPGA or locally for the YWCA Westmoreland County female athlete of the year awards.

O'Rourke also has the distinction of being the craftsman who created Congress' gifts to President Bush and Vice President Cheney - Lenox bowls engraved with a likeness of the Capitol Building among the trees with the White House in the distance.

O'Rourke is also the new products coordinator for Lenox. Once designs are chosen, he 'finds a way to get designs into production.'

Crystal may also be decorated by etching. This is achieved by coating the piece into beeswax and using a needle and a template to remove the wax to create the desired pattern. The beeswax protects the glass where there is no design as it is dipped in an acid bath. This process is almost identical to the way Bryce Brothers etched glass.

Crystal may also be banded with bright gold or platinum. Houser says the Lenox proprietary process lasts seven times longer than the competition's.

Following banding, the crystal is put through the rigors of a 'detergent test,' 10 times harsher than dishwashing. If any gold or platinum is removed in the process, the pieces are redone.

Another decorative process is sandblasting, used in Lenox's newest line 'Spring Mist.' The stems of these pieces are pink, blue or clear, but after sandblasting, have a delicate pastel finish.

Pieces of giftware may need to have ornamentation glued onto them. This process was brought back into the plant for quality control with good results.

Houser believes Lenox Crystal's strength is the quality of the product, but that customer service and employee involvement are also pluses.

Houser adds that Lenox offers a wide range of products, which also places the company at the top of its field. Customers can find collector bells, paperweights, stemware that coordinate with dinnerware, giftware, and awards.

The Mount Pleasant plant expects to move about 2 million pieces through their doors this year, totaling approximately $12-13 million in sales.