How To Repair Glass Scratch

Photo by Lizzie Himmel

Can any break be fixed?

We try to discourage people if it's broken in too many pieces, or if it's the arm of a light fixture—if those are repaired, they won't be safe to use. But whatever it is that can be done with glass, we will do it, if you love it enough. We can get out the faintest scratches and mineral deposits. Baccarat asks us to clean every minor blemish on display pieces for the store. People send us boxes of broken things from everywhere—California, Hawaii, Alaska. The lady who wrote The Thorn Birds sent us vases and glassware from Tasmania.

Can you make a patch for a broken glass, or can you only grind down and glue together whatever's left?

For cracks, we use ultraviolet-curing glue—it reaches full strength in 24 hours. We can use it as filler for little details that are missing, like the whiskers on this Venetian tiger I'm working on. If there's a break at a natural joint, we'll grind down to the joint and bond there and smooth out the profile. On pieces with a lot of texture and light effects, you'll hardly see the repairs. The resale value will be lost, but the piece will be structurally sound and even the experts won't be able to see the lines. You can't patch glass like porcelain, but sometimes we can cut a new piece out of old glass for a missing part, like this fin for a Steuben dolphin. I have boxes of glass shards and broken-off bases from lamps, candlesticks, and glasses—Daum, Lalique, Steuben, Irish crystal, and Venetian, in different colors.

Do you hear a lot of dishwasher horror stories?

I never recommend dishwashers for crystal, no matter what the manufacturer says. Glass gets stressed at high temperatures, detergents can damage its surface, and you may find out that one glass in your set is more susceptible to damage than the others. The glass can turn gray and cloudy—it's called 'sick glass.' The stress builds up, the glass can split and not be repairable, and you never know what will be the last straw.

How much do you charge?

It can go as high as $4,000 for a complete dismantling and reassembly of a really complicated sculpture. Just grinding down a chip on a wineglass rim is $25. But people should know that the thin-walled wineglasses that taper inward are much harder for us to work on than the ones that have straight sides or open outward. We lose 10 out of 100 of the kind that taper inward—they spring a crack—but lose only one out of 100 of the other kinds.

What's the best way to pack all the bits and pieces?

Wrap each piece separately. It doesn't matter if you use newspaper or bubble wrap. Make sure none of the pieces can jump around. And double-box them in wood or cardboard with newspaper, peanuts, or bubble wrap between the boxes.

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