Cristalleries Du VSL
The crystal factory Val Saint Lambert was built in 1826 and is known worldwide. It’s famous because of the 2 meters high cristal vase that consisted of 82 pieces that was made for the world exhibition in Antwerp in 1894. Around 1926, when the fabric existed 100 years, about 5.000 people worked at the crystal factory. Almost 4 years later (black tuesday in the US) a worldwide crisis started and the fabric suffered a lot of this. 90% of the revenue came from export. Even worse : after the financial uncertainty the fabric got bombarded heavily during WWI by the Germans. This brought structural and financial problems. In 2008 Val Saint Lambert was taken over by the family Onclin. In 2010 the brand was launched again and placed on the map under a new entity. Today the factory still exists, 60 people work in the new fabric, the brand is operational in more then 40 countries worldwide.. 7 days a week and 24h a day the production is still active as the ovens need to stay on constant temperature to deliver the best quality crystal. It stays a company secret how they make that perfect quality crystal for more than 2 centureies now. Also the special formulas to give the crystal a colour. The old fabric is totally in decay, new visitors don’t know about this.