Sunday, May 10, 2009

Bombay Sapphire Holiday Glasses Revisted...

Well over the past couple of months, since I ran the post asking for help to date my collection of Bombay Holiday Glasses, I have had several people step forward to clarify several of the dates. One of these, I consider to be an expert since his company manufactured seven of the glasses since 2001. Peter Sciacca of 1 Source Signature Glassware Inc. sent me this picture that I assume is from there catalog.

There is only one I slightly disagree with and that would be the 2002 glass. I believe it is the twisted square stem. I got that one 2002. I also got another one, with Bombay Sapphire, printed on the stem in 2007 at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans at a Bombay Sapphire demonstration. When I asked Peter about this he did say that some sets use other glasses in VAP (Value Added Packaging). He believes they were made by Libby glass and was very quick to point out that 1 Sources glass is mouth blown, the Libbey glass is machine made and perhaps painted and that 1 Sources glass is colored with light cobalt sand.

Also you should really check out the 1 Source websites. They have some amazing glass ware. http://www.1sourceinc.com/ & http://www.disciacca.com/Default.aspx

Below is my collection that has now been updated... In conclusion I would like to thank every one that left comments and shared their knowledge. Sharing info with others is one of the things that keeps collecting fun.

Speaking of sharing knowledge...Be sure to check out Tales of the Cocktail. I will there again this at the Vintage Bar Ware Collectors Symposium along with Stephen Visakay & Mark Bigler. We will be talking about the histories of Norma Bel Geddes, designer of the Manhattan Cocktail Shaker, The Napier Company, & the Zeppelin Cocktail Shaker. You will also be able to see and touch these shakers and many others that we will be bring to the event. We will also be raffling off over $1000 in bar ware & cocktail shakers from our personal collections. Of coarse will also be serving up a couple of cocktails. It is being held at The Museum of the American Cocktail. There are links on the right side to both Tales & the Museum. Admission to the Symposium also gets you in the Museum where Ted Haige (aka) Dr. Cocktail has put together a one-of-a-kind museum covering the history the cocktail in America.

Hope to see you there...

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for posting this information -- it was exactly what I was looking for!

Can you clarify the statement about the 2002/2007 glass, please?

I have just bought a(the?) 2002 glass without the etched logo and it is not crystal. Does that mean the one with the logo is the real(crystal) one? I don't like logos on anything (glasses, clothing, anything) but I'm not happy with the ones I have.

Unknown said...

Thank you thank you for researching/posting these! Any way we could persuade you to update it to the years following 2008? Wouldn't it be nice if Bombay would post them on their website...?

Unknown said...

Hello, I am the concept designer and or the production manager of most of the VAPs from 1997 until we no longer offered glasses in VAPs, I believe it was 2008 when we stopped.

Your Green Head Glass is the first glass made by Bombay Sapphire. I believe it was 1995 before Bacardi acquired the brand.

Also, you have a mix of Glasses used in VAPs and some used as stand alone gifts.

Nice trivia for you, my inspiration of the "floating Bombay Bottle and Glass" was when I was struggling on how to best showcase these items, I then visited the Miami Dadeland Mall and went into the Macy's, I saw all the perfume packaging and a light bulb went off. I then struggled with the size and weight of both the 750ML and 1.75L compared to the perfumes. I then went to the local south Miami Toys R Us to buy a present and saw a robot packaging displayed in what soon took over and finally after many attempts found to the first Sapphire floating VAP in 1997. I partnered initially with a company that was never able to produce the packaging. At the same time, I had my plan B and partnered with the second in line, a family owned company named Hub Folding Box in Massachusetts who not only invested in making the VAP possible but also gambled with it as the purchase was not guaranteed. This turned out to be a great success, our own brand Grey Goose copied our floating design as well as other competitors.

The glass with most issues was the three prong with blue marbles. What a pain to hold the glass bowl with 3 tiny rods. We fixed that issue by introducing a small metal cone between the glass bowl and the three prongs. This glass ran for one year only.

I met Peter many times, I can attest he was very involved with the glasses and he is right about Libby and the differences in processes. I was more involved in the graphics and packaging while my counterparts (Debby, Elizabeth "Liz" and Elba) were kicking butt and getting the best deals in glassware.


Thanks for reminding me of my time at Bacardi, it was a blast!


Simon.