1. House of Waterford Crystal: 1-Hour Factory Tour
The House of Waterford Crystal Tour is more than a factory visit. We take you on a journey into the world of crystal. You’ll see each stage of the process that goes into making these pieces of art. We start in the history room, tracing Waterford Crystal from its birth. This part of the site features detailed exhibits of the firm’s development, and you’ll see some of their great antique pieces on display here. You’ll then proceed to the mold room, where wooden molds and hand tools are still used by master blowers to shape the molten crystal. From here we move on to the blowing room, where you’ll watch as craftsmen transform glowing balls of molten crystal into elegant shapes. In the cutting department, master craftsmen use industrial diamond-tipped wheels to cut the crystal. The diamond wheel ensures a high quality cut to the crystal. The last two stages of the process involve sculpting and engraving, and are arguably the most precision-based stages in the creation of a piece of Waterford Crystal. Your tour ends with a visit to the retail shop, where you’ll see the largest display of Waterford Crystal in the world.