Halifax crystal maker a unique business creating unique products

HALIFAX – When NovaScotian Crystal ran out of money a few years ago, things were looking pretty bleak.

Canada’s only crystal maker had run out of money and was getting ready to close its doors — but when a new owner arrived and things began to turn around. Now the Halifax company is rebuilding and doing what it does best: producing unique and awe-inspiring crystal creations.

Crystal-making is an ancient and delicate process. Within a few minutes of pulling molten crystal from a melting pot, craftsmen get to work shaping it into different products.

NovaScotian Crystal is the only creator of mouth-blown, hand-cut crystal in North America. The craftsmen use little to no technology, only the tools that have been around for decades.

“They’re made out of wood, steel, very fine little instruments. Those are traditional tools of crystal making,” said NovaScotian Crystal’s Larissa Law.

The pieces are put in an oven and left to gradually cool. A day later, they get put into the hands of cutters like Kieran Bowes. Bowes cuts the patterns onto the crystal by memory. He has been working at NovaScotian Crystal since the doors opened in 1996.

“My dad’s one of the original founders of the company, so I came over with the equipment I guess,” he said.

Despite the complexity of the job, craftsmen can work on 60 to 100 pieces of crystal every day. It’s a time-consuming process: each finished product takes an average of three to five days to complete.

“It’s really good to see something that you created, something that you’ve done that you see in the finished product,” said Bowes. “Just to create something, to see people’s enjoyment out of it.”

In the past two years, NovaScotian Crystal has hired eight new apprentices who will learn the craft of crystal making for the next five years.