Crystal Awards Guide

There are several different styles of crystal gifts, trophies, awards and prizes to choose from in order to honor those employees, volunteers or community members who have meant so much to a businesses or group's success.

Retirement is a great accomplishment for employees or volunteers and a beautiful crystal award with a Quartz time piece set inside could make a nice gift of appreciation for an individual's service to a company. Representing time, clocks are a show of time spent with a business and the crystal surrounding it shows the wonderful success a company has experienced with that person.

There are awards made of clear, or what's known as optical crystal, shaped into a star for a 'superstar' performance; shapes of pyramids to signify the climb to the top or success and crystal shaped like a mountain peak, also to suggest scaling to a peak within the company.

Crystal gifts and rewards for achievements could also be formed in the shape of small building blocks or stairs to represent a goal setter within the company achieving what they set out to do.

Other trophies and awards could be designed with color or frosting instead of the clear crystal which might delight the recipient even more. In addition to the actual gift of crystal, many of the crystal trophy companies offer engraving at little or no cost. This means the crystal items will not only be something of a decoration, they will also commemorate the event with the beneficiaries name and the date or the award's name etched on the front of the piece for all to see and admire.

A company might decide to pay respect to their employees with a better representation of crystal such as a crystal biscuit jar, crystal vase, various size bowls and crystal candy dishes, crystal plates or serving platters and crystal candle holders or drinking glass sets would all be a usable gift as well as decorative.

There are crystal companies that will create a unique crystal statue or container that is more representational of what a business does. For instance a radio station could have crystal records or microphones made for their employees. By the same token, a grocery store could use scaled down size crystal grocery bags in appreciation of their employees and they could use them as pencil holders.

Showing appreciation for an employee, volunteer, loyal customer, vender or anyone who has helped a business through the good and the bad times could be rewarded with more loyalty and continued superb service. Crystal awards are the perfect piece to pass between an employer and employee or others in recognition of their great job and the companies continued successes. Visit the crystal award hub page.

There are several different types of crystal that are used in creating awards. The most common is called optic, or optical, crystal. This type of crystal is known for its hardness and clarity, as well as for the fact that it is completely lead-free. Optic crystal uses pressure, and not lead oxide, during its manufacturing process to eliminate bubbles and other imperfections. Due to the process of pressurization involved in its manufacture, it is only available in sheets, and is not suitable to the production of glassware. It is generally used only to create solid form awards such as obelisks and engraved plaques.

Black optic crystal, used largely to form base pieces for other sculptures and figurines, is made by introducing special additives during the manufacturing process.

Starfire is a slightly blue-tinted crystal manufactured in a process similar to that of optic crystal. Some consider Starfire to be a glass, and not a crystal, due to its less perfect clarity.

Jade crystal falls into the same family, and has a somewhat greenish tint. This crystal type is quite often used in the design of corporate awards.

Full lead crystal is what most people usually think of when the topic of crystal is brought up. Unlike optic crystal, it relies on the addition of lead oxide during its manufacture to produce its flawless clarity and hardness, as well as to give it weight. Because lead, and not pressure, is used in its manufacture, it does not need to be produced in sheet form. Instead, it is blown in the time-honoured tradition by a team of skilled glass makers. This gives it a wider range of uses and more design flexibility than optic crystal. Bowls, figurines, cups and vases are made from it.

In order for crystal to be considered 'full lead' it must contain a minimum of twenty-four percent lead oxide.

Two and three-dimensional etched images are another form of award currently gaining in popularity. These thoroughly stunning and lifelike images are made by focusing a laser so that it will create a microscopic crack deep inside of the crystal. Because it is not possible to draw a continuous line, the laser must be repositioned and the process repeated hundreds of thousands of times in order to complete the image. Only absolutely bubble and flaw-free crystal can be used in the making of one of these awards, or the laser may not be able to accurately hit its target and the image will be ruined. The surface must also be completely flat, making it very difficult, but not impossible, to create an etching inside of a sphere or other irregularly shaped piece of crystal.

Showing someone how much you value and appreciate them with a crystal award is a gesture that will never be forgotten. It is a memento that will be treasured forever.