A few days ago as I was gloomily wading through the latest news about the global economic debacle, I was startled, shocked and profoundly saddened by a totally unexpected item.
It was a report that Waterford Crystal in Ireland had filed for bankruptcy.
Waterford Crystal just doesn’t compare in size and economic significance with all those financial giants that have recently failed. Nor was I worried about my investment in its stock, because I have never owned any. But Waterford crystal is one of those items that is so associated with beauty, permanence and aspirations for the good life that it is an heirloom, a must on so many Bridal Registries. It is hard to imagine that such an icon could be sent into oblivion by a bunch of greedy, soulless financiers.
I first became fascinated by Waterford crystal when I was a student in Dublin, Ireland.
Grafton Street, a short walk from the University campus, was the premier shopping street in Dublin. Several fine old establishments such as Robinson’s and Switzer’s stood elegantly along the short, curving street, but one building was remarkable even in such company: the Irish Hospitals Sweepstakes Building.
The ground floor of the Irish Sweepstakes Building was a showcase of the finest products of Ireland (The Irish Republic). Two enormous windows revealed to passersby the entire floor, with its very high ceilings.
In that space were displayed huge Donegal carpets of pure wool, so thick, so finely crafted and with such lovely designs in delicate shades of colors that the last thing you would want to do was walk on them.
There were elegant Donegal tweeds, pure wool Aran Island sweaters, the delicately thin and distinctly Irish Belleek China with its shamrock motifs.
But the crowning touch was the display of Waterford Crystal: chandeliers, stemmed glasses and goblets, vases, bowls, all faceted like finely cut diamonds, that sparkled and brightened all around them even on the dreariest, sooty Irish winter day in the late 1950’s.
This permanent exhibition hall had the aura of a sanctuary of the finest in design and craftsmanship, the epitome of good taste.
All of these luxuries were of course far beyond the means of a student sharing a small rented room with another student and with few possessions besides his limited wardrobe, his textbooks, an old secondhand bicycle and a Tilly, a simple kerosene heater.
Many years later I moved to the United States. I established a career and got married. My wife also had her own professional career, the US dollar was strong in relation to European currency.
We bought a pair of Waterford Lismore wine glasses!
With some judicious budgeting, a two-career middle income couple in the USA could splurge occasionally like that at the time without getting into trouble financially.
Our Waterford collection grew modestly over the years. Our children toasted their marriages with Waterford crystal champagne flutes and began their own collections.
One day a granddaughter, barely a toddler, accidentaly knocked two Waterford wine glasses together at the gift shop of a winery, and squealed with delight at the distinctive ringing sound. I think she too became a Waterford crystal fan at that moment. I admired her taste but along with the startled customers and clerks, swept her up quickly to save myself from a substantial bill for breakage when she seemed intent on repeating that special sound.
When our nest was empty and we decided to downsize and move out of state into a smaller apartment, my wife and I thought that our children would benefit more from it, so we gave them most of our Waterford then rather than leave it later on as an inheritance.
I couldn’t bring myself to part with all of it, so I kept a few items.
When I am most at peace with myself, I relish sitting up in bed late at night long after the neighborhood is quietly asleep, the room lighted only by the faint glow of the city. I savor its aroma and sip a drink. But it must be from a Waterford Crystal stemmed glass.
6 comments:
I received the following Comment which brought attention to the demise of yet another icon of the best of our generation.
Thank you, Ric.
"i left a note on your admirable blog on Waterford and it didn't take.
So here is the gist of it.
On an entirely different but equally disappoint and troubling failure
for me was how the tradition-minded Brits allowed the demise of Punch
magazine. (I once had a subscription and, on leaving Trinidad, gave to
some of my cherished friends, old bound copies of the magazine.)
Cheers
Ric"
Louis,
It is truly sad that such an iconic institution like Waterford Crystals can't be sustained despite the many collectors collecting their products. I guess the modern business model where non existing product is traded at exhorbitant price brought the death knell to this institution.
Hello Zawi,
Yes, it seems like the modern business model has very little to do with the quality of product or service and everything to do with how much some outsider financier can squeeze out of the business then abandon it and move on to the next opportunity.
hello louis,
look like the global economic crisis do not go for any sentimental value. Once it hits an organization it hits HARD.
RIZAL.
Rizal,
If the global economic crisis had been the inevitable consequence of some inevitable natural law, like the sun rising in the East every morning, or even the annual appearance of the flu virus, one could accept more easily the destruction of companies that produce valuable items or services.
However, this crisis wasn't inevitable, certainly not in its severity and comprehensiveness. There is ample evidence that it was the result of deliberate lack of oversight and accountability, fueled by greed and a certain ideology.
The world economy was sabotaged for the sake of a few ideologs and greedy individuals.
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