BRITAIN’S only manufacturer of handcrafted luxury crystal is challenging itself to create a stunning new piece for the coronation of King Charles III.

Cumbria Crystal at Ulverston will be ditching its traditional, geometric style, and commissioning a more organic and floral design to mark the Coronation on May 6.

The Coronation glass will be a bespoke, gold gilded Baluster Goblet, similar to one made for the Queen’s visit to Cumbria Crystal in 1987.

Cumbria Crystal was founded in 1976 by Lord and Lady Cavendish to produce high quality, handmade crystal tableware.

The glass produced by the company is a unique mix of silica, hot ash, and 24 percent or more lead oxide, making it heavier and allowing more reflection and refraction for a clearer shine.

One piece of glasswork takes around 12 days from start to finish.

First it is blown, heated and shaped before cooling overnight in the Lehr. It is then sent to be marked up and a design is drawn on by hand then roughly carved into the glass using a diamond lathe.

The glass is then engraved more precisely on a smoothing sandstone wheel which is quarried at a special site in France, only accessible for three months a year.

Finally, the glass is polished in acid, the handmade pieces are washed in a mixture of extremely dangerous hydrofluoric and sulfuric acid until they come out sparkling.

Cumbria Crystal has one of the only two acid cleaning machines in Britain.

The Ulverston shop sells seconds – pieces of glassware that are not top class due to imperfections so small they’re almost unnoticeable.

The best seller is the whisky tumbler which was used by Daniel Craig when he played James Bond in Casino Royale. The company’s stem and bar ware has also appeared in Downton Abbey.

The company believes that it is important that customers can watch crystal being made using historic techniques so visitors are invited to watch the artisans at work.

Chris Blade, the managing director at Cumbria Crystal, said: “It’s really important that we give people the opportunity to come to Cumbria Crystal and see the action free of charge.

“If you don’t see it in person, you can’t appreciate the skill it takes to make these pieces. We don’t automate anything, so we keep heritage skills alive, using practices perfected by the Romans.

“We aspire to make the best quality glass in the country, the seconds for sale will have air bubbles or waves in the glass where light doesn’t reflect cleanly, but these flaws show how it has been handmade, not every piece is perfect because we don’t use machines.”