Understanding Baccarat's Heritage

Understanding the Baccarat brand, products, and everything they represent isn’t possible without understanding the intricate heritage behind them. From the Meilleur Ouvrier de France, to the apprentice, to the engraver, there are many people, processes, and much precision in our heritage — and they’re integral parts of what makes us, us. So when it comes to Baccarat, what is heritage?

OUR HERITAGE IS… 
The Meilleur Ouvrier de France who proudly goes to work every night, listening to the sound of the furnace. And equally so, our heritage is also the apprentice who is still learning, breaking each and every one of their creations until they master the trade.

It is the craftsman handling an imposing vase to edge with the wheel, knowing they are creating a piece that transcends utility.

It’s also the bell tower that overlooks the factory, a reminder of 250 years of history, where everything has changed and yet nothing has changed.

Or it’s the beauty of 24-carat gold becoming ruby red to create our trademark pampille, and the engraving that ensures that the piece has met the most demanding quality controls. It’s also the engraver who uses their breath to deposit the perfect amount of moisture before polishing with an agathe.

It’s realizing that the technique is nothing without the inspiration, and it’s the artist who gets inspired by a crystal and mixes it with other media to create a new piece of art and challenges our understanding. The designer who sees new use in an old piece.

It is the meters and meters of shelves of molds, each with an inspirational name — Harcourt, Beauvais — ready as to be used for a new perfect creation.

The books of special orders that line up the archives; keepers of the commissions of csars, emperors, and maharajas.

It is the houseman in the hotel who carefully maintains the pieces he inherited, and the common thread that links the material to the immaterial, the experience.

Our heritage is made up of so many people and processes, but only the visceral experience of witnessing the making of the crystal at the manufacture can truly make us understand what heritage is. 

Learn more about our crystal making processes, including the hot process and the cold.