Fall Highlights for Celebrating this Season

As the holiday entertaining days approach, Simon Pearce designed a variety of new items to enhance good times with family and friends. With the popularity of the recently launched Shoreham whiskey glass; we extend the unique gesture of its curve into a complimentary decanter and double old-fashioned.  The decanter’s streamlined silhouette is a statement piece for any bar, and feels great in the hand when pouring and serving for celebratory times this season.

A wonderful new entertaining item is the Hampton chiller. Pursuing design concepts that are both functional and beautiful, we brought together hammered stainless steel and our glass to create a stunning combination.  The spherical glass shape can be filled with crushed ice, and the benefit of the 18/10 stainless insert is to keep your wine or champagne bottles chilled without them getting wet sitting in the ice. Separately, the metal component can be used as a tabletop sleeve like a coaster to place a bottle in, while the glass shape can double as an ice bucket or even a vase.

 

Exploring interesting material combinations is a hallmark of our design pursuits.  Expanding on our popular barware category,  we brought together a smooth sculpted wood handle with a stainless steel element to create a few quintessential bar tools.  As a great gift for the home bar user, we created a grey leather/suede pouch to conveniently put the tool set away when not in use. 

As our forest of glass evergreen trees keep growing, we explored other mediums that our unique tree design can be interpreted in.  After sculpting our trees as prototypes to be made out of beeswax which were launched last year as tree candles, we then took the same models to cast the trees in our own pottery.  Two options of glazes are available of a classic white dove, or the reactive green glaze called moss glen that has interesting tonal detail along its edges.  The new pottery evergreens make a great addition to any glass tree forest to create a striking decor statement.

We developed the technique of adding a watery swirl around a glass vessel first on a Waterbury tumbler and then a lamp.  To add a touch of expressiveness and swirl to our wine glass collections, we brought this concept into a classic red and white wine glass shape.  Each Waterbury glass is entirely unique resulting from a small gather of molten glass added on the glass floor while the vessel is being formed.

Our perfectly imperfect form and edge treatment of the Burlington Hurricane shows off the unique characteristics of our glass.  This year, it has been interpreted into two new sizes.  The new small and large sizes combined with the medium are great as a grouping in clusters of all three items on a table, console or mantel.  Perfect for illuminating a holiday table for gathering.

Awards in Design

Pratt Fashion Visionary Award

As part of a larger design community, Simon Pearce has cultivated relationships with several higher education institutions, and promoted the awareness of handcrafted Design and the cultural impact it has on our lives. An example of this, is Pratt Institute’s Fashion Visionary award, which is a glass object designed and handmade here at Simon Pearce to celebrate the accomplishments of a designer in the Fashion Industry. The development of the award changes from year to year, with new forms being explored in R&D, that can express the nuances of fashion in glass.

Our most recent creation started with a hand rendering, and was the result of working with riverstone shapes in glass, applied around the form of a modern vessel.  The organic characteristics of the hand formed stone shapes, show off the quality of the glass, particularly with the way light refracts through them.

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 This year, the award was given to Kerby Jean-Raymond, for his notable achievements in Fashion Design as creative director at Pyer Moss.

A prior award design that we provided, took inspiration from a twist of fabric pulled around a shape. The Initial sketches lead to building an armature, that Jan Mollmark masterfully assembled with a wood buck, that he used to locate exactly where the steel wire needed to be to create the creases in the glass form.

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The result was an alluring vessel with curving surfaces of glass, that are accentuated by the creases that form the twisting look of a flowing dress.

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Rose Byrne presenting the award to Francisco Costa

Past recipients for this glass award have been,

Gabriela Hearst, Created her own brand of luxury ready to wear and accessories, and is well respected for her commitment to quality, sustainability, and social activism.

Francisco Costa, Creative director of women’s Calvin Klein collections.

Fern Mallis, Fashion Industry Lifetime Achievement Award from Pratt Institute – presented to her by designer Calvin Klein.

 

 

Shimmering Trees

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Building upon the much loved Echo Lake design, that is inspired by the ice formations occuring over the waterfall at the Mill, we attempted the same technique on a few tree shapes and were excited about the result.

 

 

These eye catching wintery trees are the perfect balance of classic & contemporary design and make a statement for any centerpiece.  The perfectly imperfect strands of molten glass are finely wrapped around each tree form to create this shimmering effect.

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Echo Lake Trees: 8″, 10″, 14″

Celebrate the season, by creating a cluster or even a forest of mixed trees, for a grand tablescape, or mantle display that will be a delight through the winter months.

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Throughout the wintry months in Vermont, we take photos of the different states of water and ice over the waterfall, for design inspiration.

Celebrating Everyday Moments

Simon Pearce Engraving

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Tell your story.

The flat rim of our best selling Celebration Bowl was designed to showcase engraved sentiments of all sorts, making it the go-to for those milestone moments.

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Behind the scenes engraving.

Its strong, tapered base rises to a flat, flared rim that’s purpose-built for engraving.

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New Celebration designs inspire even more ways to etch good times in glass.

 

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Celebration Tealight

Highly customizable, perfectly functional and designed to go with any décor – stock up on one of our best selling gifts.

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Watch as one of our artisans creates the canvas on which so many of life’s momentous occasions have been marked.

Celebrate in Style.

Lighting the Way

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Our design intention is to blend functional geometric pieces with art-glass techniques to create a diverse collection. The character of the pendants changes a great deal with the choice of light-bulb – they can appear moody, elegant, or bright, depending on what the customer desires.

 

Pendants work in a variety of interior settings and also encourage the customer to be creative, such as in building groupings or clusters of them. The modularity of the simple designs allows for repetitive compositions.

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Simon Pearce introduced pendants to the market as another avenue for customers to experience our glass, and by combining them with our lamps, we consider ourselves a destination for lighting and a resource for interior designers, architects, and the discerning homeowner who may be building or remodeling.

 

Looking at the lighting assortment, the Warren lamps add a simple, modern, voluminous form to the overall line. The Warren silhouette is now available in both glass and ceramic.

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The Echo Lake Collection

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Upon, studying the water flowing over the waterfall at the mill and the ice that forms in the winter, we came up with these natural textures to capture in glass.

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The glass blowers use fine strands of molten glass that are quickly wrapped around these cylindrical shapes to create a watery and icy effect.

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As a beautiful series of winter hurricanes, the candlelight glows through the finer wrap texture in a way that is visually stunning.

 

We started with initial drawings but also worked closely with the glassblowing team, to arrive at the optimal amount of textural coverage. Each vessel turns out unique, and we embrace the irregularity that comes from the process of making them.

Perfectly, imperfect is a key characteristic of Echo Lake, and a hallmark of our ethos.

Tis the Season: Evergreens

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The Simon Pearce Vermont Evergreens have become iconic symbols that truly emphasize our brand originality and authenticity.

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They remain a true reflection of the design influences that surround us in our beautiful Vermont setting. Our crystal clear glass formula along with the hand-tooled forms capture the magic of a tree as if it were made of ice.

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They create conversation and certainly stimulates the imagination. No two are alike. As with trees in the natural world, the subtle differences give them a unique personality.

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Make a Magical Arrangement

It’s desirable to have them in groups which might inspire years of collecting and growing a forest. We refer to them as “investment” pieces that can be used and reused every year as seasonal decor items, as well as the fact that they can stay out all year long.

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A new textural addition to any forest is the Snowy Branch Evergreens which are lightly dusted in white powder on the branches. This gives the impression of freshly fallen snow on our iconic trees. Enjoy the season!

Watch the video below.

 

The Bristol Collection

 

The Bristol Collection originates from studying the “Golden Section” Proportions found in nature. Yet, no matter how refined the design or how forward-looking the concept, hand-crafting is required.

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For the Bristol Collection, James Murray, Simon Pearce’s VP of Design, began with ideas for a flute and a tumbler that he carefully rendered on paper. After making numerous revisions, the process of manufacturing began, which required blowing, shaping, sculpting, cutting, trimming, molding, and cooling in our workshops, of Vermont and Maryland.

 

“For the Bristol Collection, we use old-world techniques and real, basic tools to make something that is decidedly modern,” says James.

 

Visitors to our workshops can witness the process.

The Crystalline Collection

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In a Parisian pottery factory of the late 1800’s, two chemists made a mistake, causing colorful glaze crystals to form on the outside of their pots. The results were, at once, striking and hard to control. The potters at Simon Pearce have revisited this technique to create one of a kind, decorative vessels.

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PURE Crystalline Rose Teardrop Vase (Large and Small)

The time intensive and expensive process fell out of favor with the large pottery factories, but in the 1920’s, a resurgence in the production of this glaze technique occurred (due to independent potters setting up their own studios and producing pottery separate from large production).

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Matt McFarland with the “Jade” glaze he developed.

Matt McFarland developed the glazes and the technique to allow the glazes to run down the entire ceramic form. The crystals are formed by a combination of added ingredients (mostly zinc oxide and silica) to float around on the glaze and cool slowly. The size of the crystals is determined by how long the minerals remain on the molasses-like glaze before it drops in temperature.

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Mike Trempe throwing a Crystalline Teardrop Vase (Large).

Only some shapes will adequately “hold” this type of glaze. The shape needs to orient itself in a way so, when the glaze is applied to the top rim of the vessel, the crystals form at the desired place on the piece. For this reason, many of the vessels are bulbous (that Mike Trempe throws), with a very narrow neck. Historically, this is known to create the most dramatic and aesthetically pleasing results.

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Crystalline Bud Vases: Contour, Modern, Curio, and Facet

Matt McFarland was instrumental in the first full line of crystalline products being launched at Simon Pearce, in the Spring of 2014. The introduction of these pieces brought a sparkle of color into the company owned stores. Today, the Simon Pearce crystalline assortment includes over a dozen different shapes in five different colors.

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The story of crystalline is the story of how research into the history of the medium can inspire masters to create a new standard of excellence.

The PURE Collection

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The Simon Pearce PURE Collection evolved from our artistic objects that are produced against the chance of failure, where the risk in making unique vessels becomes an expression of virtuosity, something alive and happening in the moment of creation.

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PURE Gray Providence Centerpiece

The contemporary design and fine craftsmanship inherent in PURE forms are appreciated by discerning connoisseurs and customers looking for one-of-a-kind gifts.

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PURE Crystalline Cobalt Platter

PURE is the vehicle for ongoing experimentation and the way in which the artisan can push the materials to express new forms and sublime textures. The same artisans who make our core glass and pottery products also make PURE vessels, which underscores the talent within our teams for stretching beyond our current production capabilities and discovering new ideas that come out of the process.

PURE Middlebury Bowl

Each design in the PURE Collection is more than its aesthetic creation; it is a way to explore new forms and ways of making. Each piece captures a special moment of perfection with an uniqueness that can only be made with the human hand.

This is why we call it PURE.