Cristal Benito

A ruby-red bowl with a bronze band around its foot, the exterior a honeycomb texture. Cut from glass crystal, this extraordinary piece exemplifies Martin Benito's mastery of a craft honed by his family for generations in France.

Benito begins his process by tracing the lines of his designs onto uncut forms. These are then milled by hand, and the rough cut refined—the patterns channeled deeper and deeper, to the very breaking point of the crystal. The most brilliant sheen is brought forth with increasingly fine polishing wheels. Once the cut is finished, pieces are polished with yet another wheel or in an acid bath, and colored, whilst hot, with pigments.