Cumbria Crystal is the last producer of fully handblown luxury English lead crystal in the UK. Its glasses grace the dining tables of British embassies across the world and blockbuster films but like many heritage businesses it is having to adapt to a rapidly changing business landscape.
For a champagne toast at the wedding of Tom and Lucy and to fuel a jolly good debate at dinner nothing else will do for the Crawley family it has to be luxury lead crystal. Even the cook Mrs Patmore gets in on the act smuggling in something special from her hipflask to sip from the familys premium glassware when the tables are turned and the servants move upstairS.
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It is all in the latest Downton Abbey movie A New Era of course when the details of the lives of wealthy Lord Grantham and Co. are meticulously planned down to the last sherry glass. Which is all good news for Cumbria Crystal the Ulverston company that makes the glasses that feature whenever the Crawleys are at home at Downton entertaining or gathering over food and drink.Once again the movie makers turned to the last independent British maker of luxury handblown handcut lead crystal to make sure tables looked authentic and suitably aristocratic. Cumbria Crystals Grasmere collection has appeared in most if not the television series of Downton Abbey and both films.
But it is not just the Crawleys who appreciate the quality of the Cumbrian-made glasses. The double old fashioned whisky tumbler from the same collection is the glass of choice for James Bond too Daniel Craig suavely pressing it to his lips in the film Casino Royale.For close on half a century Cumbria Crystal has been bringing elegance and sophistication to the tables of the rich and famous. The Grasmere collection is by far the companys biggest seller but was already a popular line before its starring role on the big and small screen says Chris Blade CEO of Cumbria Crystal since 2015.
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