While PICARDIE might be Duralex’s best known design, the product range is wide and includes glassware, bowls, and serving pieces. For many of us, Duralex is a magical name which tells a story of childhood with the little inlaid numbers found at the bottom of the tumblers we all played with during lunchtime in the cafeteria. But it is also much more… Duralex owes its birth to the Saint-Gobain group and the industrial patent for moulded, tempered glass, developed in 1936 in the La Chapelle Saint-Mesmin factory. This industrial process gives the tumbler a perfect transparency and lasting clarity, and makes it practically unbreakable. Since its creation, the expertise and know-how of its collaborators have given the brand its international renown with its unbreakable tumblers whose pure, simple style is never outdated. Technical Definition
The tempering operation consists of a brutal cooling by ventilation of cold air over the two faces of the glass product, which has been brought beforehand to a temperature of 1292°F. This treatment creates in the glass a force which improves most of its physical properties: resistance to mechanical stress (bending, shocks and impacts) and to thermal shocks.
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES:
the product is 2.5 times more resistant than a fired product of equal thickness.
THERMAL:
tempered glass can resist a thermal shock of 266°F, while classical glass breaks from a thermal shock of about 104°F. Tempered glass conserves the optical and acoustic properties of each basic product. After being tempered, the glass can no longer be recut or reshaped. Slight deformations may be observed after tempering which are inherent in the manufacturing process. Duralex glassware is as strong as it is beautiful. LYS glass dinnerware is an example of another “hidden gem” in the Duralex line of products for foodservice. So, the next time you think of Duralex, don’t just think of it as a “pretty face” or simple specialty glassware….it can stand up with the big boys of glassware just fine, thank you. To see the collection of Duralex products for foodervice, go here: http://www.duralexusa.com/
