Baccarat is a small town of less than 6,000, in the foothills of the Vosges mountains in eastern France. The glass factory was founded in the latter half of the eighteenth century and has remained in operation continuasly since that time.

The little chateau, once the home of the Christallerie administrator, is at one end of a grassy mall, and the furnace building is at the other. In the early days, before precise temperature controls, the little bell on the top of the furnace building was rung to summon the workers at the moment when the glass mixture was just ready for working. It was therefore...