Has anyone here tried those new, supposedly indestructable wine glasses? I
think they're called "Tritan" or something similar.

One of the guys in the Wine House said he'd experimented with what it took
to break one. He dropped it on its side from a height of ~ a meter onto a
_concrete_ floor. After three failed attempts to break it that way, he
dropped it upside-down. It didn't break the bowl, but the stem snapped off
at the base.

If they're anywhere near as tough as that, I have to get some; I have a
number of clumsy friends. ;^) Then all I have to do is figure out how to
prevent them from knocking glasses over and spilling the inevitably red
contents all over my ever-present, light-colored, absorbent stuff. :^/

I suspect that I'd better stock up on these glasses soon. I expect them to
go bankrupt rather quickly for lack of repeat business... :^|

Tom S

Tom S wrote:
> Has anyone here tried those new, supposedly indestructable wine glasses? I
> think they're called "Tritan" or something similar.

Schott Zwiesel's Tritan Diva series of wine glasses:
http://tinyurl.com/7g8s5

{titanium glass? unbreakable? WTF???}

FWIW, people have been making wine glasses for years out of Lexan
(polycarbonate), which is optically clear and for all practical purposes
unbreakable. Unfortunately, all the polycarbonate wine glasses I've
seen have been less than ideally shaped for wine drinking, but surely
some enterprising plastics manufacturer could come up with Riedel
knockoffs made out of polycarbonate.

Mark Lipton

On 20-Apr-2005, Mark Lipton > wrote:

> Tom S wrote:
> > Has anyone here tried those new, supposedly indestructable wine glasses?
> > I
> > think they're called "Tritan" or something similar.
>
> Schott Zwiesel's Tritan Diva series of wine glasses:
> http://tinyurl.com/7g8s5
>
> {titanium glass? unbreakable? WTF???}
>
> FWIW, people have been making wine glasses for years out of Lexan
> (polycarbonate), which is optically clear and for all practical purposes
> unbreakable. Unfortunately, all the polycarbonate wine glasses I've
> seen have been less than ideally shaped for wine drinking, but surely
> some enterprising plastics manufacturer could come up with Riedel
> knockoffs made out of polycarbonate.

Tom, I have a friend who has purchased gobs of these things.... IMHO they
are too darn large! The Bordeaux glass is probably 1/3 again as large as
the Sommerlier Bordeax from Riedel. The cool thing about them though,
unlike one made of Lexan, is that you get the glass feel and no "off" taste
from what I imagine you'd get from Lexan (thinking about all those dang
poolside glasses)....

Don't know about the break-testing though.... that does sound interesting.

Cheers,
Gary

They're not totally unbreakable. Betsy gave me 4 Bordeaux and 4
Chardonnay for Christmas. We're down to 3 of each. 1 Bordeaux broke on
the way to an offline when a friend dropped the whole box. 2 foot drop
straight down shattered one stem. One Chardonnay stem broke when it was
knocked off a counter onto a tile floor. But...

1) They do survive being knocked over at a table, which a lead crystal
stem will not.
2) They're completely dishwasher safe, and supposedly don't cloud after
1000 washes.

The Chardonnay are a nice size, about the size of the Riedel Chianti
glasses. They're become our "everyday" glasses, though there are always
Spiegelau Bordeaux & Burgundy stems for wines that need bigger bowls.
Particularly useful as weather gets nicer and we often eat on patio,
with a glass topped table and lots of activity around.

The Bordeaux are indeed quite big. Bowl isn't much larger than
Spiegelaus, but stem is quite tall. In fact, too tall to fit in our
cabinet, so I keep in a box for carrying to offlines.

The ones that I have are the Tritan line sold at Wine Enthusiasts. I've
heard the ones (also Schott Zwiesel) that Brentwood sells are a bit
better (and differently sized).

"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
> FWIW, people have been making wine glasses for years out of Lexan
> (polycarbonate), which is optically clear and for all practical purposes
> unbreakable. Unfortunately, all the polycarbonate wine glasses I've seen
> have been less than ideally shaped for wine drinking, but surely some
> enterprising plastics manufacturer could come up with Riedel knockoffs
> made out of polycarbonate.

Many of the plastic wine glasses I've seen aren't made from anything as
_good_ as polycarbonate. The ones I have aren't much tougher than a good
one made of glass.

The Tritans are not plastic. They're apparently made from some sort of
space age glass formulation.

I like the idea of Riedel knockoffs made of plastic for poolside etc., but
they'd be very difficult to manufacture with an opening smaller than the
bowl diameter. How would you get the inner mold out? They'd have to be
spin formed or something and would probably end up costing as much or more
than real glass.

Tom S

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 12:42:29 GMT, "Tom S" >
wrote:

>
>"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
>> FWIW, people have been making wine glasses for years out of Lexan
>> (polycarbonate), which is optically clear and for all practical purposes
>> unbreakable. Unfortunately, all the polycarbonate wine glasses I've seen
>> have been less than ideally shaped for wine drinking, but surely some
>> enterprising plastics manufacturer could come up with Riedel knockoffs
>> made out of polycarbonate.
>
>Many of the plastic wine glasses I've seen aren't made from anything as
>_good_ as polycarbonate. The ones I have aren't much tougher than a good
>one made of glass.
>
>The Tritans are not plastic. They're apparently made from some sort of
>space age glass formulation.
>
>I like the idea of Riedel knockoffs made of plastic for poolside etc., but
>they'd be very difficult to manufacture with an opening smaller than the
>bowl diameter. How would you get the inner mold out? They'd have to be
>spin formed or something and would probably end up costing as much or more
>than real glass.
>
>Tom S
>

Tom:

"How would you get the inner mold out?"

Just a little FYI: It's called a "collapsable core". Expensive but it
can be done. Would be fun to try, anyway. Or I suppose they could be
blow molded and then sliced off.

All that being said I am not sure I would want any kind of plastic for
a wine glass in regular use. Sort of "not the thing," as it were.
Wrong feel.


Art Schubert
Traverse City, Michigan

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 12:42:29 GMT, "Tom S" >
wrote:

>
>"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
>> FWIW, people have been making wine glasses for years out of Lexan
>> (polycarbonate), which is optically clear and for all practical purposes
>> unbreakable. Unfortunately, all the polycarbonate wine glasses I've seen
>> have been less than ideally shaped for wine drinking, but surely some
>> enterprising plastics manufacturer could come up with Riedel knockoffs
>> made out of polycarbonate.
>
>Many of the plastic wine glasses I've seen aren't made from anything as
>_good_ as polycarbonate. The ones I have aren't much tougher than a good
>one made of glass.
>
>The Tritans are not plastic. They're apparently made from some sort of
>space age glass formulation.
>
>I like the idea of Riedel knockoffs made of plastic for poolside etc., but
>they'd be very difficult to manufacture with an opening smaller than the
>bowl diameter. How would you get the inner mold out? They'd have to be
>spin formed or something and would probably end up costing as much or more
>than real glass.
>
>Tom S
>

Tom:

"How would you get the inner mold out?"

Just a little FYI: It's called a "collapsable core". Expensive but it
can be done. Would be fun to try, anyway. Or I suppose they could be
blow molded and then sliced off.

All that being said I am not sure I would want any kind of plastic for
a wine glass in regular use. Sort of "not the thing," as it were.
Wrong feel.


Art Schubert
Traverse City, Michigan

"Art Schubert" > wrote in message
...
>>Tom S
>>
>
> Tom:
>
> "How would you get the inner mold out?"
>
> Just a little FYI: It's called a "collapsable core". Expensive but it
> can be done. Would be fun to try, anyway. Or I suppose they could be
> blow molded and then sliced off.
>
> All that being said I am not sure I would want any kind of plastic for
> a wine glass in regular use. Sort of "not the thing," as it were.
> Wrong feel.

Thanks for the info, Art.

I agree, but wrong "feel" or not, there's a lot to be said for a good,
reliable, nearly indestructible, el-cheapo glass that's ~ 90% correct.
Unfortunately, I have yet to find something like that. :^(

I'm definitely going to give these new _supertanium_ glasses a test drive.
AFAIC the jury has yet to be empaneled.

Tom S

"Tom S" > skrev i melding
...
>
> I agree, but wrong "feel" or not, there's a lot to be said for a good,
> reliable, nearly indestructible, el-cheapo glass that's ~ 90% correct.
> Unfortunately, I have yet to find something like that. :^(
>
I don't quite get it?
Are you Americans as clumsy and heavy-handed at home as your politicians are
abroad?
If you've got a fragile glass you handle it accordingly. Never wash up when
drunk, never hold the stem when you dry it, only at the balloon. There's no
reason why your glassware should break...
And, yes, there is some fine, very low-priced stemware at IKEA... I use
their 500ml white wine glasses for my red wine - very good, they are.
:-) Anders

"Anders Tørneskog" > wrote in message
...
> Are you Americans as clumsy and heavy-handed at home as your politicians
> are abroad?

Although _I_ am not, I have a number of friends who are! I myself have
_never_ broken a glass; it was always someone else's fault. :^)

I've never started any wars or created diplomatic nastiness either. Nor
have any of the people I've voted for. Well _mostly_ anyway...

Pinocchio

I see why Tom, more than most people, needs wine glasses that are
difficult to break. Some poor soul, who does not know Tom is trying to
make Chateau Burbank more powerful that David Bruce's in the 70s, drinks
too much and gets clumsy :-) .

There are many thousands of glass formulations, but the three main ones
that have been used for fine art glass are lead crystal, and the classic
Bohemian and Venetian formulations that do not contain lead. There are
many tempered glasses, and some of these probably would work for a wine
glass. However they might not look as good as a high lead content
crystal.

All you need for a clear glass is very pure quartz(silicon dioxide). It
melted alone makes a glass that is very clear and does not fracture with
rather large sudden temperature changes. However it must be worked in a
very high temperature hydrogen-oxygen flame. An old professional Dutch
glass blower we had at work many years ago had no trouble working with
pure quartz glass.

However most practical glasses have many additives to vary the
properties of the silicon dioxide in many ways. Some compositions and
heat treatments make the glass more resistant to breakage or sudden
temperature changes. Lead greatly increases the refractive index of the
glass to make it sparkle more, especialy when it is cut. Some of the
traditional Bohemian formulations were well suited for adding enamel and
gold decoration. Some elements are added in trace amounts to color the
glass - cobalt for deep blue, gold for ruby red, etc. Moser, in the
early 1900s, made some glass contaning up to several percent of some of
the rare earth oxides. One of these rare earth glasses is considered the
most beautiful yellow colored glass ever made by many. Also uranium
often was used to color glass green. Riedel was famous in the 1800s for
their green uranium glass.

I keep both fine and everyday glasses. You can get well shaped glasses
made in China and elsewhere at just a small fraction of the price of
Riedels and other popular brands. My good glasses are Baccarat. Baccarat
has no axe to grind. They will sell you about any style you want and do
not try to push pet theories on people. If you want a baby bathtub size,
they have it. If you want a glass that is paper thin they have it in the
Brummel which makes the top Riedels seem thick and wide stemmed on
comparison. They can provide you with very heavy, clear cut glasses.
They can provde very ornate cut glasses with multi layers of colored
glass. They have many bowl shapes. What their glasses have in common is
that they are all very well made. They have a wider and heavier base
than many, so that they are difficult to tip over. Seconds are destroyed
rather than sold. They use a very high lead content for maximum sparkle.
They continue to sell replacements long after a style is introduced, and
can even duplicate many of the very early patterns on special order.

Of course fine glasses must be washed by hand, one by one. One must pay
attention so that one does not strike a hard sink, the glasses should be
lightly held by the bowl, and a very soft cloth or sponge should be used
without undue pressure. A very large sink helps. It is well to rotate
the sink faucet out of the way if possible, because many glasses are
broken when they hit it. Also make certain there are no cup hooks are
magnetic latch strike plates at the top of a shelf in a cabinet used to
store tall glasses. Many glasses have been broken from the rim hitting a
cup hook or strike plate when they are stored on a shelf.

Reply to .

I see why Tom, more than most people, needs wine glasses that are
difficult to break. Some poor soul, who does not know Tom is trying to
make Chateau Burbank more powerful that David Bruce's in the 70s, drinks
too much and gets clumsy :-) .

There are many thousands of glass formulations, but the three main ones
that have been used for fine art glass are lead crystal, and the classic
Bohemian and Venetian formulations that do not contain lead. There are
many tempered glasses, and some of these probably would work for a wine
glass. However they might not look as good as a high lead content
crystal.

All you need for a clear glass is very pure quartz(silicon dioxide). It
melted alone makes a glass that is very clear and does not fracture with
rather large sudden temperature changes. However it must be worked in a
very high temperature hydrogen-oxygen flame. An old professional Dutch
glass blower we had at work many years ago had no trouble working with
pure quartz glass.

However most practical glasses have many additives to vary the
properties of the silicon dioxide in many ways. Some compositions and
heat treatments make the glass more resistant to breakage or sudden
temperature changes. Lead greatly increases the refractive index of the
glass to make it sparkle more, especialy when it is cut. Some of the
traditional Bohemian formulations were well suited for adding enamel and
gold decoration. Some elements are added in trace amounts to color the
glass - cobalt for deep blue, gold for ruby red, etc. Moser, in the
early 1900s, made some glass contaning up to several percent of some of
the rare earth oxides. One of these rare earth glasses is considered the
most beautiful yellow colored glass ever made by many. Also uranium
often was used to color glass green. Riedel was famous in the 1800s for
their green uranium glass.

I keep both fine and everyday glasses. You can get well shaped glasses
made in China and elsewhere at just a small fraction of the price of
Riedels and other popular brands. My good glasses are Baccarat. Baccarat
has no axe to grind. They will sell you about any style you want and do
not try to push pet theories on people. If you want a baby bathtub size,
they have it. If you want a glass that is paper thin they have it in the
Brummel which makes the top Riedels seem thick and wide stemmed on
comparison. They can provide you with very heavy, clear cut glasses.
They can provde very ornate cut glasses with multi layers of colored
glass. They have many bowl shapes. What their glasses have in common is
that they are all very well made. They have a wider and heavier base
than many, so that they are difficult to tip over. Seconds are destroyed
rather than sold. They use a very high lead content for maximum sparkle.
They continue to sell replacements long after a style is introduced, and
can even duplicate many of the very early patterns on special order.

Of course fine glasses must be washed by hand, one by one. One must pay
attention so that one does not strike a hard sink, the glasses should be
lightly held by the bowl, and a very soft cloth or sponge should be used
without undue pressure. A very large sink helps. It is well to rotate
the sink faucet out of the way if possible, because many glasses are
broken when they hit it. Also make certain there are no cup hooks are
magnetic latch strike plates at the top of a shelf in a cabinet used to
store tall glasses. Many glasses have been broken from the rim hitting a
cup hook or strike plate when they are stored on a shelf.

Reply to .

"Tom S" > skrev i melding
...
>
> "Anders Tørneskog" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Are you Americans as clumsy and heavy-handed at home as your politicians
>> are abroad?
>
> Although _I_ am not, I have a number of friends who are! I myself have
> _never_ broken a glass; it was always someone else's fault. :^)
>
> I've never started any wars or created diplomatic nastiness either. Nor
> have any of the people I've voted for. Well _mostly_ anyway...
>
A most civil answer!
:-) Anders