b'1783W AT E R F O R DE S TA B L I S H E DWaterfordCrystalwasfirstestablishedin1783onlandadjacenttoMerchantsQuayintheheartoftheIrishharbourtownofWaterford,justminutesfromthe present-day House of Waterford Crystal. Its founderswerebrothersGeorgeandWilliamPenrose,important developers and principal exporters inthecity.Theirvisionwastocreatethefinestqualitycrystalfordrinkingvesselsandobjectsofbeautyforthehome.Morethantwohundredyearslater,thereputationtheyestablishedforcreating 1800luxurycrystalofunsurpassedbeautyandqualityhas transcended the intervening centuries.F I R S TG L A S SM A K I N GF A C T O R YThePenrosebrothersopenedthefirstglassmakingfactoryinWaterfordin1783,wheretheircrystalwasimmediatelyrecognizedforitsclarityandpurityofcolour. They enjoyed success well into the 1800s. 1947 However,in1853after70yearsofoperating,thePenrosebrothersglassmakingfactoryfellvictimtoaturnofeventsthatechotodaysbusinesswoesandwas sadly forced to close.P O S T W O R L D W A R I I R E S U R G E N C EAfter almost a century of dormancy, the Waterford story resumes in 1947, when glassmaker Kael BacikhiredfellowCzechMiroslavHavelasChiefDesignerforhisfledglingglassmakingoperationin Ireland. Havel spent many hours at the National Museum of Ireland studying surviving examples of thePenrosebrotherscrystalfromthe18thand19th centuries. The traditional cutting patterns madefamousbytheartisansofWaterfordbecamethedesignbasisforthegrowingproductrangeofthe new company, and it is from these designs in 1952 that Havel created the now iconic Lismore -theworldsbest-sellingcrystalpattern.19'