Saint Louis

The art of living in crystal will seduce the whole world. Born of a luminous ball of fire, the mystical union of sand and fire, and the breath of man, Saint-Louis crystals vibrate with all the talent inherited from the past and extraordinary creative fantasy inspired by the present. This true combination of alchemy and dreams stems from the natural habitat that gave birth to the Crystal mastery: the forestry region of the Vosges in France.

This timber cathedral with its peaceful spirit is deeply tucked away in the its valley and is a fertile territory for silica sand, potash from ferns, firewood, and river water but also for myths, legends and imagination. Founded in 1586, the manufacture of Saint-Louis gave birth to an entire village built and developed around its glass guilds. In 1767, the highly regarded manufacturers were bestowed with royal warrants and with the name of Verrerie Royale de Saint-Louis, by Louis XV, for the exceptional quality of their glasswork.

Paul Claudel wrote “if glass is solidified breath, then crystal is a spark of the human soul: Unrivaled, dense, clear, sonorous, and luminous.”
Saint-Louis crystal reflects millennia of glass-making history and the time-honoured techniques mastered and improved from one generation to the next. It is at the Saint-Louis foundry that crystal was introduced to France in 1781, by master-glassblower and former director François de Beaufort. De Beaufort discovered the crystal formula: adding lead to the glass substance to give the material more weight, sonority and light refraction virtues. The Verrerie Royale de Saint-Louis was then renamed the Cristallerie Royale de Saint-Louis, and since 1829 has been exclusively devoted to the production of crystal.

The Saint-Louis master glassmakers and cutters sign every day the finest tableware and lighting crystal creations and are considered among the very best in France with their irreplaceable knowledge and ancestral skills that have been enriched through passing generations. The renowned crystal manufacturer has gained worldwide recognition for the quality of its crystal but also the advanced crystal-colouring, hot-shaping and cold-cutting techniques they developed in the 19th century.

Coloured crystal is obtained by adding metal oxides to the pure crystal substance, such as nickel oxide for purple, cobalt oxide for Saint-Louis blue, copper with gold chloride for ruby red. Each crystal piece is mouth-blown in clear or vibrant colours, hand-cut, hand-engraved and hand-decorated using 24-carat gold or platinum.

Saint-Louis has seamlessly transitioned into the 21st century with contemporary creations while maintaining its regal heritage, emerging as a symbol of French expertise in the highest quality crystal.
Each Saint-Louis creation carries the soul of the craftsmen who made it hence a piece of history but also draws inspiration from contemporary artistic trends in order to renew and shape its identity. In the wave of creativity that swept through the early 20th century, between Art Nouveau and Art Deco, external designers brought their talents to bear at Saint-Louis, artists such as Paul Nicolas, Jean Sala, Jean Luce, Michel Colle and Maurice Dufrêne.