Gibraltar Crystal was established in 1994 and went into business in 1995. As a result of the growing concerns in the market place, particularly in the USA and Scandinavia, the company decided that it would avoid the use of lead oxide and instead opt for barium. Although it was aware that little, if any, evidence existed to suggest that the use of lead in glass had any detrimental effect on human health, it was felt that there appearaed to be a growing trend away from lead, driven by the percieved dangers that the consumer felt were associated with the heavy metal. After investigating several alternatives and suppliers, Kugler of Germany was chosen to provide the barium batch. Although the company's glass blowers had little experience of working with non-lead glass, they found that they had no problems using barium as an alternative.
