"Those who want to love Czech glass must know and understand it. And there is no understanding without a deep knowledge of the art of glassmaking itself, its long tradition, its origins, and its development. Only a few people share the secrets of this art and its complicated progress from mass of glass into beautiful object. The glassmaker will accomplish his job by the breath from his mouth and often with tears of exhaustion caused by the flames of the melting furnaces. The role of glass in the world is greater than that of other materials, even more expensive ones. Loving glass means forgetting darkness and rising towards light and brightness. To stare at its rainbow-like reflections and glare is to become a more noble person. The love of glass means admiring and appreciating those qualities that form its permanent value - like the genuineness of the glass and the honesty of work."

Josef Drahonovsky at the 2nd International Congress on Glass, London, 1936

 
 
 
 





The range of products included under the Desná Classic label are produced on the basis of demanding traditional procedures by a team of experienced professionals comprising glassmakers, smelters, cutters, technologists, metal workers. Each profession requires years of practical experience.

The basic shape of the product is the result of pressing or blowing. Objects with closed shapes, most often bottles and scent bottles are blown into metal casts by the glassmaker himself or with the help of compressed air. Pressing is primarily used during the production of objects with an open shape, such as ashtrays, candleholders, and figurines. These are shaped in a press mould with the help of pressure from hand pliers or the plunger of a handpress. The glasscutters then give the products their final shape.

Aside from the hand cutting of products, the frosting of products is an often-used finishing technique. It is so delicate in many cases that it effects a silky shine. This is the result of a chemical process that creates an "icy" coating on the surface of the finished product. It is not possible to accomplish this effect with the commonly used sandblasting or etching. The combination of polished surface and frosted embossing is used for a number of products in the Desná Collection.

Transparent colors also make up a special product range. The transparent colors traditionally used for the Desná Collection have been specially developed so that they create the anticipated optical effect on heavy glass. For this reason they are very delicate and labeled as so-called Jizera colors to ensure their uniqueness.

Uranium yellow is historically the color most associated with the company's past, since the story has been passed on that it was named as a tribute to Josef Riedel's wife Anna. This is why it is known as Annagelb (Anna's yellow). Its peculiarity is that it glimmers brightly under ultraviolet light. In spite of the fact that uranium is used in the production of this color, it is used in small concentrations and in a form that is non-detrimental to health.

Less distinctive, but extremely popular among experts, is noble blue, which is sometimes known as alexandrite. This is a color that is produced using elements of rare earth. These give the glass its special character, in that the glass appears to be differently colored in daylight and under artificial light.

Two other colors, from the range of transparent glass, are both traditional and unique to Desná. The first is water blue, which in its most delicate shades, is light and clear like water. The second is noble green that is characterized by its comforting turquoise tone.

Most typical of the coloring of Jizera Mountain glass, however, are rich or opaque colors, such as jade (green - inspired by jadeite and malachite), lapis (blue - inspired by lapis lazuli), and in the past also turquoise (blue-green), or opal (light beige-white), as well as others. They often resemble natural precious stones and semi-precious stones so faithfully that the layperson doesn't believe that it is glass at all. The special color transitions and effects of these colors are accomplished both by the components of the glass, and by using special procedures in the course of production, which gives an irreproducible and unique character to every individual piece. The perfect effect is achieved through the delicate finishing of the surface texture with a combination of cutting and frosting.

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