Company:Ajka Crystal

Ajka Crystal
Type	Private
Industry	Luxury, Crystal
Genre	Handmade
Founded	1878
Founder	Bernát Neumann
Headquarters	Ajka, Hungary
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Finest crystal
Website	ajka-crystal.com

Short description: Manufacturer of fine crystal glassware located in Ajka, Hungary

Ajka Crystal has been one of the most prestigious workshops in the European glass industry since its founding in 1878.

The manufactory’s glass artists passed down from generation to generation many thousands of designs and manufacturing technologies that faithfully reflected the special knowledge of the masters. The designs have been created by internationally renowned prestigious designers that still color the offerings of the most prominent brands to date.

A copy of the Hungarian Royal Crown, circa 1896

This product variety rightly represents the pinnacle of glass production and has established Ajka’s unique position in the international luxury glass market. The Ajka master artisan’s specialty is the creation of the genuine cased colour cut to clear 24% lead crystal products.

Also popular are Ajka's high-quality colorless lead crystal products - decorative works, Pate de verre sculptures,tableware, glasses and everything that has been provided by the glass industry for more than a century to the most demanding consumers of this industry.

The Ajka production itself is unique, handmade glass art, unsurpassed quality and timeless beauty.

From the 1970s the company proudly supplies its products to well-known brand houses such as Bulgari, Bentley, Cristal De Paris, Christofle, Christian Dior, Daum, Fabergé, Hennessy, Henry Jacques, Edinburgh Crystal, Polo Ralph Lauren, Richard Ginori, Rosenthal, Rolls Roys, Saint Louis, Tiffany, Val Saint Lambert, Versace, William Yeoward, Waterford and many others.

Ajka is present directly or through its customers in all parts of the world where you will find the most demanding luxury homes. ^[1]

History

Group picture of the cutters 1912

The present company was founded in 1878 by Bernát Neumann, building upon the glassblowing tradition of Bakony. With the assistance of Bavarian and Saxon masters, Neumann established his factory, primarily producing household glassware. In 1891, Neumann sold his company to the family glass business founded earlier by János Kossuch, which by then had multiple glassworks. Operating under the name Kossuch János Ajkai Üveggyára, the company continued its operations and, thanks to professional investors, underwent significant development in the following decades. Shifting from household glassware to luxury items such as cut glass goblets, they reached increasingly distant markets. The company's products found their way to German, American, and Indian markets as well.

During the beginning of World War I, production was halted for two years, and in the interwar period, it continued with varying intensity. Before the Second World War, the factory experienced prosperity, then during the war, it initially operated as a military industrial plant. It came under the control of German and later Soviet forces, ceasing glass production.

At the time of nationalization in 1948, the factory employed 409-410 workers. Operating as Ajkai Üveggyár, between 1963 and 1980 as a unit of the National Glass Industry Company, and both before and after that period as an independent entity, the factory continued its operations. Modernization increased production capacity twofold, and the manufacturing of lead crystal glass began, constituting a growing share of the factory's products, achieving market success internationally.

The brand store is in Hungary Budapest, Kossuth Lajos utca 10. , 1052