If you’ve traveled long enough or are an art or glass lover, you’re bound to know about the world famous Bohemian glass. Truth be told, I’ve always been more of a pottery and ceramic lover than glass, but when you’re in Bohemia, you can’t not marvel at the artistry, especially since it’s a cut above other glass works you’ll likely see on your journeys. It’s such a cut above the rest, that I even bought myself a little bowl before leaving the Czech Republic.
Where to go and how to find the best? There are no shortage of glass shops throughout the city, a large volume of them being in old town Prague, but the prices there tend to be a little pricier than if you find an out of the way glass shop or travel to nearby Moser Glass Museum and Glassworks Factory. You can take day trips out to the museum however I’d suggest at least an overnight in the area since Moser is located in Karlovy Vary after all, the oldest and most traditional spa town in the Czech Republic. I can’t marvel enough about the picturesque town along a storybook-like river and you can stay in a historical hotel and get pampered at one of the spas – what’s not to love?
You don’t start out in the sales showroom however, but in the factory, where you can get a comprehensive look at how the glass is made, and I might add, right up close! You can also watch a ten minute documentary film in nine languages and audio guides are also available if you don’t have a personal tour guide. Visiting the heart of the glassworks is a mind blowing experience — here, in the magic atmosphere of glass being blown and shaped, you can actually smell the wooden moulds smouldering with the heat and in real time, watch the beauty of molten glass come together. All of it is before your eyes, from the glassmaking raw materials, to the tools and in the process, you’ll learn about the production techniques.
Apparently they use high quality raw materials which are melted with the admixture of precious soils and metal oxides. Moser colors are the result of semi-precious mineral colors amethyst (violet), rose, blue, aurora (orange), reseda (yellow-brown) and green or popular six-colour sets consisting of crystal, aquamarine (light blue), rosaline (pink), beryl (light green), eldor (light yellow), topaz (honey brown) and alexandrite (light violet) which changes its intensity and colour shadow from bluish to dark violet depending on the kind of lighting.
Join me in the factory to get a taste of what it’s like to create beauty with glass.
Outside, their creative glassware was displayed as well, which are quite frankly, astonishing pieces of art. Have a look!
Back inside the gallery….
Below is some video footage I shot of the day – ENJOY!!!
Ludwig Moser (1833 – 1916), one of the most outstanding personalities of glass manufacturing in the world, is the force behind it. He first opened his own shop and engraver´s workshop in the centre of Karlovy Vary and in the same town in 1893, he began his own glass workshop, which has been operating successfully until today. Within a short time he gained the reputation as the most prestigious producer of crystal in the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy. Nowadays, the glass manufactory is a joint stock company with entirely Czech capital and has approximately 320 employees.
DETAILS:
MOSER Glassworks, Museum & Factory
Kpt. Jarose 46/19
360 06 Karlovy Vary
Czech Republic
T: 800 166 737 (only in the Czech Republic)
T: +420 353 416 242
www.moser-glass.com
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
