The Duralex Name Is Associated With Affordable Glassware For Every Occasion

The Picardie glass originated in France in 1927, it's fluted, scalloped appearance is reminiscent of a wine goblet only without the stem, this glass certainly started a trend toward a more streamlined style in French bistro's.

The flared shape made it easy to hold and more importantly the fact that this glassware could be stacked was an added bonus. The faceted sides created play with light through the liquid within, giving even the cheapest of wine a touch of class.

Although this glass is forever associated with Duralex it was originally owned by Saint Gobain a company that acquired Duralex in the 1930's. At this time Duralex was a company that made chic glass containers for a perfume range. It was at this time that tempered glass evolved, this was a process where glass was heated to 600 degrees and cooled very rapidly creating layers of heat resistance to strengthen the glass to two and half times its original strength. This became very important for restaurants and bistros as a broken glass was no longer in jaggered pieces, and this also meant hot liquids could be served in this glassware for the popular trend that was emerging in France and North Africa.

The Picardie glass continues to be very popular across the world today for both latte's (large version) and espresso (small version), where a normal glass would withstand a heat of around 40 degrees, a tempered glass withstands up to 130 degrees making it ideal for such a use. The Picardie glass along with Provence, Prisme and Gigogne to name just a few are still very well-known linked with the Duralex name, durable quality, affordability and more importantly visually pleasant on the eye.