Cocktail Glass Set of 12 in Lead Free Crystal

Run a finger around the lip of a cheap glass and you will feel a small raised bead. These have none, because a sheer rim is cut and polished rather than rolled, and the thin edge that leaves is what a drink actually meets.

• No bead at the lip A cut and polished edge instead of the rolled ring that reinforces cheaper glassware.
• Blown by hand The bowl is shaped by a maker rather than pressed into a mold in one action.
• Twelve to the case Enough for a party where nobody is washing glasses between rounds.

What a Sheer Rim Changes

A rolled rim is thicker than the wall behind it, and your lip meets that thickness before the liquid arrives. Cutting the rim instead leaves the glass the same thinness all the way to the edge. The drink reaches your mouth without an intervening ridge, which is the whole reason fine glassware is finished this way. The cost is fragility: a sheer rim chips where a rolled one shrugs, so these are hand-washed glasses in practice whatever a machine could technically manage.

Lead Free and Still Clear

Lead was traditionally what gave crystal its clarity and weight, and modern lead-free formulations reach the same brilliance with other oxides. What that means for you is a glass you can leave a drink standing in without thinking about it, which was never true of leaded crystal holding anything acidic or spirituous overnight.

Twelve Glasses and a Party

Six glasses runs out during the second round of a dinner for six, because somebody always sets one down and loses it. Twelve is the number that lets a host stop counting. It is also a storage decision worth making in advance: stemmed glasses do not stack, so twelve of them want about two feet of shelf standing upright, or a rack that holds them by the foot.

Washing, Storing and Chipping

Can a sheer rim survive a dishwasher? Sometimes, and it is not the water that does the damage. Glasses knocking together on a moving rack is what chips a thin rim, so a machine works only if each glass is isolated.

Should stemmed glasses be stored upside down? Upright is better for a sheer rim. Resting the full weight of a glass on its thinnest edge is how a rim develops the tiny chips you feel before you see.

Should they be dried by hand? Hot water, minimal detergent, and dry with a lint-free cloth while still warm. Air drying is what leaves the mineral spotting that makes clear glass look dull.