The manufacturing of hand-cut lead crystal plays an important role in the production of high quality tableware. For several hundred years, lead crystal glass has been a well-known attribute of luxury and well-being. The production of large lead crystal makers, such as Swarovski (Austria), Waterford Crystal (Ireland), Steuben Glass (United States), Baccarat (France) and others, is world famous. At the same time, there are many small lead glass manufacturers, who find it difficulties to maintain their position on the market. While know-how costs are quite high, homemade development of high-quality solutions is frequently difficult, and quality standards of the market are growing. Apart from the most common 24% PbO lead crystal, there are also glass types with up to 65% of lead oxide which are used as, for example, radiation shielding or lense material. In this situation, Glass Service (Italy) has designed and built a furnace commissioned in autumn 2010; which represents the latest development of electric furnaces. The 24% PbO glass is gathered both manually and mechanically using the Glass Service (Italy) gathering robot.
