The Polish 'magicians of glass' who create Christmas baubles for clients worldwide

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CZĘSTOCHOWA, Poland (AP) — If you could design a bauble for your own Christmas tree, what would it be — a teddy bear dressed as a ballerina, a hummingbird, or a crimson phoenix?

The workers at GlitterLab, a company producing Christmas decorations in southern Poland, vow to turn those fantasies into reality.

Calling themselves “the magicians of glass,” their clients have included Swarovski, the French chain Galeries Lafayette, and Harrods, the iconic London department store.

“We have the ability to create shapes and designs that glass will not normally take,” the company promises on its website.

And the whole production process, “our closely guarded trade secret,” is manual, making each product unique, it says.

“In an age when you can buy anything anywhere for next to nothing, something made from scratch here in a European country, with honest work and thoughtfulness, is truly valued by customers,” company owner Barbara Mostowska told The Associated Press.

Despite its modest appearance, GlitterLab’s workshop has been operating for more than 80 years in Częstochowa, a town of 200,000 in southern Poland.

It was founded by Mostowska’s grandparents in the aftermath of World War II, making her the third generation in the family to manage the business.

“They produced glass cigarette holders, then ‘eprouvettes’ — I think that’s the word — tiny bottles for cake flavors,” Barbara Mostowska said, fondly reminiscing about how the workshop operated when she was a child.

“And then tiny baubles, then slow-blown baubles, the ones we all know from childhood, some swans, mushrooms, pine cones, that sort of thing,” she recalled.

When the company accessed the U.S. market, it started producing more molded ornaments, such as angels or Santa Claus.

On its website, the firm also draws from the history of the town, where a local monastery holds the icon of the Black Madonna, an important object of Catholic devotion since the 14th century. Pilgrims visiting the icon would come back home with souvenirs made by local artisans.

“We are their heirs,” the owners of GlitterLab claim. “The techniques we’re using can’t simply be learned. They need to run in your DNA.”

The company’s mix of artisanal methods, new technologies and savvy marketing is very lucrative. One of their exclusive designs for Harrods, the “Yellow Floral Bauble,” is priced at 125 pounds (around $168).

It is Mostowska's dream that the ornaments won't just be displayed on the Christmas, but instead “our customers have them in their homes, whether on hangers or in display cases, year-round.”

The company’s products are “jewelry for the home,” she said.

To create a unique design, GlitterLab workers take a client’s drawing on paper and turn it at first into a soft clay sculpture, which can be modified until the client’s vision is accurately represented.

Only then do they choose the unique combination of materials that transforms a particular shape into a bauble.

Mariola Koła, the company’s most seasoned designer, has been working for 42 years at GlitterLab. She says the most satisfying moment in her day comes when a client approves a design with “no corrections.”

“It means I’ve met their expectations, their taste,” she says. “That’s the greatest joy for me. I couldn’t ask for a greater reward.”

The designers work not only with glass but with materials like resin, wood, crystals, and metal, enabling them to craft shapes that go beyond conventional baubles.

But the products also tell a story, often invoking childhood nostalgia.

“Hungry for sweets and play,” says the description of a teddy bear holding a gulf club, part of a series of similar figures in different poses. “These Teddy Bears are a time machine to a happy childhood when nothing tasted as sweet as candy floss licked straight from sticky fingers.”

Amid a heavy reality, a return to childhood and the joy of play may be precisely what Christmas calls for.

“The customers are nice, because how can people get upset and be angry or mean when we’re talking about Christmas baubles?” Magdalena Kucharska, the company’s customer service representative, wonders.

“The fact that we produce a product that brings happiness means these customers are nice too, and it’s a very pleasant job.”