Master Craftsman, Tom Power has been cutting crystal at Waterford Crystal for 49 years! He started as a young man on the 10th September 1969. Tom was a student in the local tech when a Waterford Crystal representative visited the school to inform the students that they were looking to recruit personnel for the factory. Tom attended for the ability test, which was held in the workshop at Waterford Crystal in Johnstown, a very daunting experience and Tom remembers it well.
The cutting department was where Tom served his apprenticeship. " I was of an artistic nature and loved the challenge of taking a blank piece of crystal and cutting the unique Waterford designs", says Tom. He trained for five years under the watchful eye of the master cutters and went on to become a master cutter himself after a further three years of training. Tom has worked in three of the Waterford Crystal factories, Johnstown, Kilbarry and our current factory here on the Mall in Waterford City.
Tom has worked on hundreds of trophies and prestigious pieces over the years, including the Time Square ball, all the PGA Trophies, the Gibson Guitar, the MBA Basketball trophy and the People's Choice Awards. He does have a few favourite pieces that he has worked on including the Irish Harp, the American College Football, the MBA and the stunning Viking Longboat to name but a few.
Tom has met many famous people over the years, John Hume, Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Nick Faldo and many more. But for Tom the stand out memories over the course of his career at Waterford are the lovely, funny, kind people he has met during factory tours at the House of Waterford and throughout his trips to the USA over the years.
He considers himself very lucky to have travelled to so many different states in America and to have worked in hundreds of different stores, meeting some really great people both staff and customers, who have given him a lifetime of great memories.
Tom travels all over the world to stores where he gets to meet our customers and personalise Waterford Crystal pieces for them, this is a job that Tom enjoys very much!
