“We used to be there for the special occasions in life, weddings and birthdays, but now we want to make every occasion special,” says Emily Brophy, Marketing Manager of Waterford Crystal. “It’s about making the little things more meaningful.”

Despite retail being on its knees, her optimism isn’t unfounded. The luxury goods industry is holding its own through the pandemic, and with people spending more time at home, the home interiors market is enjoying an upsurge in demand. “It’s like the Marie Kondo effect of ‘sparking joy’. Buy beautiful things that spark joy and you’ll have them for a lifetime if you invest in the right products,” she says.

While the visitor’s centre in Waterford, which normally welcomes 200,000 visitors a year, has been shut for most of the year, overall sales are steady. “We haven’t seen an increase, but we’re happy with where we’re at. We saw a lot of support when the shops reopened [after the last lockdown] and we’ve seen a lot of movement online through many of the stores we stock. All of them have chat lines or are using social media to communicate with customers and they have people at the end of the phone so you can talk to them about your requirements, all of that is really important,” according to Brophy.

“That’s been good for us. I think people just want to be kind to themselves and if you can’t go out, you can have your home looking really well and treat yourself. Whether you’re doing a Zoom call and having a drink with someone, it’s about treating yourself and having an experience in your own home. We’re lucky in terms of the category we’re in this year, because people are invested in their homes and want to do things in a nice way.”

As was the case in the great recession, this past year has seen the endurance of quality brands and classic design. “That’s what brings people back to Waterford and Wedgwood and our other brands, people know that if they’re buying it, they’re buying quality. People have grown to know and trust Waterford over the years.”

The rise, fall and rise again

While it’s true there’s a loyal customer base that stretches around the globe, Waterford has endured its fair share of challenges since it began in 1783. The glassware company quickly rose to prominence, winning awards at the Crystal Palace in London, but high taxation and export duties resulted in the factory shutting its doors in the mid 1800s. In 1947 it was re-established in the heart of Waterford City and became a subsidiary of Waterford Wedgwood plc in 1986.

“We don’t claim to be 100% Irish, but that DNA is still very strong in terms of what we do.”

Due to rising competition, it was forced to close its factory in Dungarvan in 2005, resulting in the much publicised loss of 500 workers. Declining sales, falling profits and the loss of these highly skilled jobs threatened to see the brand shatter like a piece of its finest stemware in the wrong hands.

It went into receivership and the US-based KPS Capital Partners bought the company for €107 million in 2009. Six years later, Fiskars (of the orange-handled scissors fame), a Finnish-based company, bought WWRD, whose brands include Waterford, Wedgwood Royal Doulton, Royal Albert and Rogaška, for a reported €390 million in a private equity deal.

When the company closed during receivership, the Irish factory closed down and it took almost a year to get it back up and running. A brand new purpose-built facility was created, which is now home to the production of their high-end pieces – bowls, vases, giftware and special commissioned pieces for sporting or commemorative events. The rest of Waterford’s glassware is produced in Slovenia and has led many to ponder the “Irish-ness” of the brand in 2020.

“We’re always very transparent in terms of where our crystal is made,” says Brophy. “When we were bought by KPS Capital Partners in New York. They wanted to own 100 per cent of production for our factory, which was important because it meant we weren’t using vendors abroad to purchase crystal so the Rogaška plant was purchased. Our quality team approve the processes and Jim Walsh runs the production out there for us. He’s been with our company for 41 years. It’s very much like having a hand across the water. That might sound like a cliché but it’s true. We control our own production. We don’t claim to be 100 per cent Irish, but that DNA is still very strong in terms of what we do. We produce about 50,000 tonnes of crystal a year in Waterford, so it’s not a token effort. It’s very much a working factory. I’m very proud of the fact that we make products in Slovenia, we never hide that fact. It’s on all of our boxes where it’s made and while lots of people want it made in Ireland we can show them the collections that are made here.”

Picking up the pieces

If it sounds personal to Brophy, that’s because it is. Both her father and uncle were master craftsmen who passed their skills down to apprentices who now teach the next generation. She joined the company in 2000 on a part-time basis, but loved it so much, she went to University by night and worked in Waterford by day. Twenty years later, she’s a passionate ambassador for the brand, and determined to see it succeed.

“It’s been an interesting journey and while we’ve changed hands over the years, the brand itself has always remained the same and our production process and passion in our workforce has been very, very strong.”

Ties with Eastern Europe formed part of Waterford’s rich heritage as far back as 1947, when Czech immigrant Charles Bacik, grandfather of Irish senator Ivana Bacik re-established a glass works in the city of Waterford.

Aided by fellow countryman and designer Miroslav Havel, the company restarted operations in a depressed Ireland. “After being closed for 100 years there was no expertise left in the city. When they wanted to reopen the factory they went to Europe to acquire talent.”

Miroslav Havel designed the Lismore collection in 1952, and it remains the brand’s best-selling pattern to date. “For me, nothing will ever top Lismore in terms of its appeal. When Havel came here he wanted to explore the landscape and visited Lismore Castle. If you look at the pattern, you can see a series of wedge cuts, a short upright and long upright and they’re representative of the turrets of the castle and underneath there are little diamond cuttings, which represent the lead diamonds in the windows of the castle, so that’s where his interpretation came from. That’s evolved since then, we’ve had many interpretations over the years and it’s grown with us, but has always maintained our best-selling collection.”

As drinking tastes changed, Waterford’s craftsmen and women responded. “We’re not drinking sherry and port like we once did. But now we have gin balloons because that’s where it’s evolved to. When I first joined the company, the John Rocha collection was huge. Then we started to work with coloured glass. Black glass was very on trend and then clear came back. In our parent’s generation it would have been about matching sets whereas now we’re more collaborative in our tastes with mixing and matching. It’s about using your products everyday and having a more contemporary approach to the brand.”

“You can’t be all things to all people. That’s what we learned in the last recession.”

Emily Brophy

The recent boom in Irish whiskey and the soaring popularity of gin in recent years has positively impacted the sales of cut crystal. “We noticed a definite spike in sales. We’re also seeing the age profile go down in terms of who wants Waterford. We addressed the popularity of gin two years ago with the launch of our Gin Journeys Collection, which has been an absolute triumph for us and continues to grow year on year.”

The brand also partnered with Lionsgate Entertainment on an exclusive Mad Men collection in an effort to take the brand to a new audience and encourage them to view Waterford in a new way.

“We might know it from our parents, but we want people to know it from their friends having it.” The latest collection Rum Mixology is inspired by the recent spike in rum sales. “Rum is the next big thing. Gin was where it was at for the last few years, but we’re seeing rum as the next big trend for Waterford.”

As for lessons learned from their storied past, Brophy remains confident. “You have to accept there’s less money in the economy like in the last recession, but at the same time you can’t compromise. You can’t compromise on your core beliefs as a brand. We don’t do seconds, we never have. We are the finest quality crystal in the world. We have a long and varied heritage and people value heritage. I think you can lose your brand by heavily discounting it, or by trying to push it further.

“You can’t be all things to all people. That’s what we learned in the last recession. Hold strong and give the best solution you can to people in the giftware industry and then make your brand available to people by addressing the trends. We know gin is strong, we know rum is strong and home entertaining – look at what people want and provide an enduring solution.”