Karlovy Vary Glass Museum
The new Glass Museum in Karlovy Vary, the beautiful Czech resort, offers a unique look into the history of glasswork. The modern minimalist interiors feature an exhibition of glass over a time span of over 150 years of this material's history. It presents the oldest glass design, as well as extensive current collections, and the famous luxury Moser glass. The exhibition provides 7 documentaries in 6 languages.
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The tour delights with the artistic sight of timeless luxury glassware in classic and modern shapes, cut, gilded or engraved, presented on elegant tableware or in modern hi-tech displays. Especially beautiful are the Moser collections, with crystal stemware and bar ware of Baroque and Art Nouveau style. Most of the products have a prestigious history, having belonged to presidents, dukes and duchesses, Egyptian kings, emperors, maharajahs, shahs, popes, prime ministers. Some of the table sets bear their Coat of Arms or monograms or national emblems. Moser also designs vases, bowls, ashtrays, candlesticks,perfume bottles with ornamental engravings of fauna, flora, figural and architectural motifs.
A remarkable experience is the tour of the glass maker's workshop, where you can contemplate the perfect hand manufacturing of glass products, enjoy the atmosphere given by the fragrance of burnt wooden moulds, the glow of glass blown into shape. The secrets of manual craftsmanship for glass decoration have been passed on from generation to generation. Also remarkable, the Moser factory has always manufactured its glass with more ecological means than lead crystal. The factory uses 6 basic transparent colors: Alexandrite, Aquamarine, Beryl, Eldor, Rosalin and Topaz. Darker colours such as Dark blue, Dark violet, Ocean green and Smoke are melted according to special customer requests.
The tour ends with a visit to the largest glass shop in Karlovy Vary, featuring tableware, gift ware, Czech garnets, porcelain, fashion jewelry and accessories, offering specials and even a bridal registry.
