Glassworks step by step
Rückl History
The Nižbor glassworks was founded by Antonín Rückl in 1903, but the story of this famous glassmaking family reaches much further back in history. The Rückl dynasty founded four glassworks in different parts of today’s Czech Republic. The Nižbor facility is the youngest of them and the last one standing.
Production peaked between the two world wars, but this Golden Era unfortunately ended in 1945, with nationalization efforts and later with the Communist régime. The local production continued under the Bohemia Crystal brand. After the Velvet Revolution, the entire enterprise was bought back by Jiří Rückl, the great-grandson of the founder. Since 1992, products were sold under the Rückl Crystal brand.
The current owner of the glassworks is Martin Wichterle, who bought it in 2016 in order to save it. Our company currently has around 80 employees. An extensive revitalization of the facility is planned for upcoming years, including a modern visitor center.
An Idea Is Born
The story of a Rückl crystal product begins with the designer, from the first sketch and a technical drawing to the actual process of development and production. Subsequently, designers closely collaborate with the individual glassmaking-craft masters during the entire process.
Kateřina Handlová is the current Rückl Art Director. She gained valuable experience worldwide, from the Netherlands to Dubai. Kateřina finds beauty in high-quality craft and is fascinated by the unique character of glass that allows her passion for detail. She designed the Heroine and Spirit collections, as well as successful lighting collections for our sister glassworks, BOMMA.
The Rückl brand is also closely related to the name of designer and artist Rony Plesl, who formerly served as Art Director. Among the collections he designed for Rückl are Metamorphosis, Love, Amadeus and Krakatit. He also designed the new sculpture for the Czech Lion film award, inspired by traditional Czech cut-glass patterns as well as the splendor of film stars.
Other collections have been designed by Lukáš Novák, who authored the Hedonist glassware named Wilde, intended (not only) for absinth lovers, as well as Kristýna Venturová, who designed the popular Storytellers beer glasses. The Constellation of Us collection is the result of a unique collaboration with Marine Julié, a talented French painter, initiated by Wallpaper* Magazine. This collection embodies mystical beings created with a minimalist line.
Peek into the Carpentry Shop
At Rückl, each hand-blown product ultimately begins its journey in our carving workshop, called the form room. Here, experienced carpenters use a template to create a high-quality wooden form. The ideal wood for making a wooden mold is hard, with a massive trunk and narrow growth rings - mainly from beech or pear trees. The hot glass, at a temperature of up to 1,200°C, burns and gradually wears out the mold with each use. Therefore, we regularly replace all molds with new ones to ensure the perfect shape of the final product. However, we also have aluminum or cast iron molds, which are characterized by precision processing and durability.
In the Glassworks
The production of our crystal is based on a glass-making batch, made from first-class silica sand mined in Střeleč and additional materials that affect the properties of glass during the melting process. The entry material, a composite of 60% recycled pure crystal-glass fragments and 40% newly added materials, is placed in a melting kiln, where it is gradually melted at a temperature of 1,450°C.
Skilled glass masters then manually take the hot glass onto glass-blowing pipes and blow it into pre-prepared molds with perfect skill. The centuries-old method of crystal production has been passed down from generation to generation in Rückl glassworks. It still leaves a unique mark on each glass, vase, or decanter.
Rückl crystal is highly valued for its brilliance, durability, and stability. Colored glass is prepared according to traditional recipes, which provide unique shades, including our distinctive pink or elegant brown.
Slow cooling
The precisely and delicately hand-blown product still has a high temperature of around 500°C, so it must be efficiently cooled. To prevent breaking, products are placed in a cooling furnace, where controlled cooling removes the internal tension of the glass. The cooling process takes from 4 to 24 hours, depending on the thickness of the product. The thicker the glass, the longer the cooling time. Once the product is cooled, it’s transported to the ‘popping room.’ Here, the product is first partially cut to the required height using a diamond cutter, then placed on a rotating board. Gas flames create sufficient internal pressure for the excessive upper part that connects the product to the blowing pipe, to crack off.
An Outline Is the Basis to Symmetry or Abstraction
The next step of the refinement process begins in the drafting room. Here, a black or white network is outlined on the glass product according to its technical drawing. It will serve as orientation points for the glass cutters.
Each a Master of Their Craft
Subsequently, the product is handed to experienced glass cutters, who use cutting wheels to create straight, wedge or prism cuts. These rotate around their vertical axis on a spindle-type machine or vertical axis on the flat-grinding machine. The wedge cuts create patterns such as stars, while the round cuts create dimples, spools or dots. The cutters use silicon carbide, aluminum oxide or, most frequently, diamond wheels of various types, sizes and shapes. Each cut pattern demands precision, absolute concentration and nerveless patience. Our glass cutters build upon years of experience when creating strictly symmetrical decorative patterns, as well as those abstract motifs that also have their place in the Rückl production.
Why an Acid?
To make the perfection of the cutting apparent at first glance, the product must also be precisely polished. Polishing is an essential step in stabilizing the surface and is carried out in a solution of sulfuric acid and hydrofluoric acid, into which all products are immersed. The desired final look depends on the length of this immersion. For example, after the previous matting of the product using sandblasting, the polishing time is only 20 minutes, and the product remains opaque. Conversely, a long polishing process in the acid, lasting 150 minutes, achieves a high brilliance.
The Art of Hand-Painting
The unique character of Rückl products is also provided by the technique of hand-painting, which is applied to some of our vases or glasses. The masterful skill of careful application of brushed enamel or gold illustrates yet another top-level glassmaking craft.
All Rückl products undergo a double quality control. The product is first checked after cooling and cracking. Rejected crystal products are smashed and melted again, reducing waste, energy and raw material consumption, as well as their overall ecological footprint. As each piece is an original, involving hours of manual labor, natural glass properties such as miniature bubbles or slight differences in glass thickness are not considered defects. This is an effort to reduce waste, which ultimately has an impact on the overall product price. Each product undergoes a second quality check after cutting and polishing.
Delivered Worldwide
At Rückl, we strive to make the overall experience of selecting our products outstanding, so the combination of both glass and packaging design is important to us. Quality packaging prevents products from being damaged during handling and ads pleasure, making a great impression as a gift. Our carefully and meticulously packaged products are then sent worldwide.
