What is Dichroic glass?
It's normal flat glass that is compatible with our furnace glass (COE96). The flat sheets are put into a powerful vacuum chamber, below a suspended rare metal. The chamber is taken to extreme vacuum pressures and then the metal is blasted with a laser beam and becomes millions of particles that coat the glass sheet. This process is performed many times to create multiple layers of the special coating. The finished product has a radiant, metallic, cameleon, pearlecsent quality. When light contacts the dichroic glass only some of it passes through, revealing one colour and the remaining light is reflected back, revealing a second colour, at the same time! This feature makes the colours you are seeing, change as your move past the glass. As the viewing angle changes so does the colour spectrum reflecting back to you. The coating can be applied to different types of glass. We use black or clear. Using black glass is great because it achieves the most vibrant and stunning results with a dark backing behind the dichroic layer. Using clear is lovely and subtle as the clear backing 'dissolves' into the other clear glass and leaves the fragmented metallic layer floating within. A beautiful and magical element that delivers just the right amount of sparkle.
How long does it take?
Once we receive your ashes, the making process takes about a week. A day to make, two days to cool and a day to finish. While we grow however, we are reliant upon hiring an established studio so there may be delays related to their hiring schedule which are out of our control. If you can allow us a month from start to finish this is very helpful to us but feel free to discuss your time requirements first. If you need your glass urgently, please contact us to ensure we can deliver on time.
How BIG are they?
The spheres are 10cm - about the size of a tennis ball
Teardrops are at least 15cm tall by 10cm wide. They are also slightly 'flattened' - so have a front and back that is flatter than the sides. Roughly the height of your hand. As all our glass is made by hand the size and final shape will vary slightly and your piece will be totally unique. This sizes noted here are the minimums, so your glass may be slightly bigger. Each teardrop weighs approx. 1kg.
If you would like a larger custom design we would love to talk with you about your ideas.
How do I get the ashes to you?
A lot of our clients deliver their ashes to our studio in person or send them with a family member or close friend. We are happy for you to do that if you can.
We will gladly come to you if you are nearby or we can discuss collecting them from you further away but there may be an additional charge for us to do this. We are located in Gulpen, Limburg around 20 minutes from Maastricht. When you order online you are required to select your preference to deliver or to post. If you choose the post option we will send you a package to your address. Inside the package is a prepaid return envelope with our address already on it and a small resealable bag. You need to deposit a teaspoon of ashes into the resealable pouch, place that into the envelope and deliver it to your nearest post office/box.
