New products 2022
New products 2022
Monday 25th July 2022
Fine City crystals
At Fine City Crystals are always looking at ways to improve our product offering to our customers and understand the need to offer as extensive a range as possible, that offers more choice. With this in mind, we have introduced a number of new products in 2022. The 3D offerings are the Square crystal - this allows customer who have images that are as wide as they are tall to choose a crystal that allows the engraved image to take up more of the crystal. (80 x 80 x 50 mm) We also introduced the small candle holder, which after launch is proving to be very popular for commemorative crystals. We then introduced the large crystal candle holder that we feel will…
Bubblegram
Wednesday 11th August 2021
Fine City crystals
" Bubblegram" not a word that you see every day. When the subsurface laser engraving technology was being developed a number of years ago, people looked to give the process a name. When the laser fires into the crystal it creates a small fracture or dot. Some people felt it looked more like a small bubble and hence the name Bubblegram. This name was quite popular in the early days of the developing process, however in recent time it is probably best known as 3d photo crystal engraving or laser sub surface engraving. Needless to say, they are all one and the same thing - the process of engraving within the crystal as opposed to on the crystal. Photographs are a great way of capturing…
HOW I CAME TO LOVE FINE CITY CRYSTALS
Wednesday 10th February 2021
Sallyanne (guest)
On September 30th 2019, my whole world came crashing down. I should have been having the best time of my life. I mean, I'd just got married to the man of my dreams & we were having a wonderful time in the Greek Islands, sharing a beautiful honeymoon together. However, just 4 days before our Wedding Day my Father was admitted into hospital. It was just a stubborn chest infection that wouldn't shift but it meant that my Dad wasn't able to walk me down the Aisle. A dream that both myself and my Dad had dreamt of forever. Okay, so that was a difficult day but I was pleased my Dad was being looked after well and we all…
Trying times.
Friday 4th September 2020
Corona virus seems to be the only thing people are talking about these days. They have every reason for this to take up so much mind space. Covid-19 has meant a lot of sacrifice for many, including physical hardship and mental anxiety. Restriction on holidays and getting out in the sunshine, with freedom of movement. It has also had an effect on us being able to enjoy a party or getting together to celebration a special occasion. A lot of these things we generally took for granted, pre-Covid. No more quick trips to the pub or to the local stadium to watch our favourite football team play on a Sunday afternoon. Tried getting some work done at the kitchen table…
Unique artist commission
Monday 3rd February 2020
The Serpentine Galleries,a world-renowned contemporary art gallery based in Hyde Park, London, recently contacted Fine City Crystals with an unusual request: to collaborate on an exciting and bespoke commission for a limited edition. Albert Oehlen, one of the world's most significant contemporary artists, who recently exhibited his work at the Serpentine Gallery,indicated that instead of producing a traditional print, he was looking to find a more experimental and improvised way of presenting his work. Oehlen (b.1954 German)is a German born artist based in Switzerland. Throughout his career,the artist has continually engaged with and questioned the medium of painting. Combining abstract and figurative elements in his work and using computer-generated images, these result in complex compositions and installations. The artist's decision was…
Recognition Awards
Friday 20th September 2019
One of the things we are taught early on in life, is to embrace the concept of developing a sense of gratitude. Gratitude or thankfulness need not only be reserved for the big things in our lives. In fact the scientists say the more grateful we are, the happier we are. So it stands to reason that we should then actively seek out ways to express our gratitude. There are a lot of obvious things that we can be grateful for, like the air we breath or the clean water we drink or maybe just that we are able to enjoy a delicious piece of cake. Gratitude allows us to show others that they contribute to our well-being or that their…
New Corporate portfolio
Thursday 25th July 2019
In our day to day operations Fine City Crystals gets orders for many different occasions. Sometimes customers want an old wedding photo brought back to life or a young couple may want to celebrate and record their love for each other. Kids send Mother's day and Father's day requests and we receive many requests for images of beloved pets, to be encapsulated in 3d in one of our optically clear crystals. Every so often we get get unusual requests from customers and have to adapt accordingly (please watch this space as we will, hopefully in the new year, be able to share our biggest and most prestigious undertaking to date) We have recently been approached by companies to expand our current…
Party keepsakes
Thursday 16th May 2019
We all have memories that remind us of places, people and occasions. There are many occasions that encapsulating these memories is important. Special occasions like weddings, engagements, births, birthdays, graduations, mother's, father's and valentine's days. We also like to remain close in remembrance, to the ones that have gone before us. There are gifts for him/her, men/woman, wife/husband/partner, boyfriend/girlfriend and for friends and mentors. Or maybe just to express our gratitude and appreciation for a task well done. A sub-surface 3D photo engraving is the ideal gift that would be suitable for all the above occasions. We at Fine City Crystals recently had a fairly unusual request, for 10 key-rings to be made up for an eight year old's birthday. The idea was that her…
Optical clarity
Thursday 21st March 2019
Whether purchasing decorative items for the home or recognition awards or company logo display pieces, it is always a good thing to purchase with quality in mind. Normally these items would be with us for a long time and generally things that we would treasure. We at Fine City Crystals understand that quality is important to most people and therefore we use K9 optical crystal in the production of our subsurface crystals. K9 is manufactured in China and is an optical borosilicate crown glass crystal and is equivalent to BK7 glass on the glass classification chart. Low dispersal properties and a high refractive index make for a highly clear optical glass. The index refraction is the ratio of the speed of light in a…
Contrasts
Friday 1st February 2019
We at Fine City Crystals would like to wish everyone a prosperous new year. One month down already! We have recently returned from a week's safari in the world famous, Kruger National park in South Africa. Average temperatures were around 35 degrees C (typical for this time of year) Our objective was to have sightings of the big 5 (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Cape Buffalo.) We were lucky enough to see all of the big 5 and extremely fortunate to also see Cheetah and Wild dog. (Super 7) The best sighting by far was of the Cheetah, as they were relatively close to the sand road we were travelling on. There were three of them and we managed to get some really good…
2019 It's going to be a good year!
Thursday 20th December 2018
Looking back on the year that is about to end, we check if the decisions we made regarding life choices were the right ones. It is also a time we start looking at the year ahead and whether or not there are things we need to change, to enhance our lives. It is the season for reflection and for making resolutions to ourselves, to live our lives better. There are always the health resolutions of weight loss, to stop smoking, to get fit or eat to better, in the new year. Also, the self improvement resolutions of improved education, financial status and self awareness. Most of these resolutions seem to be made to curb our excesses, however history tells us that by January…
Christmas Cheer
Thursday 8th November 2018
T'is the season to be jolly. It's that time of the year again. Where did the year go? "The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree The presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other" - Burton Hills On average, British families spend more than £800 on food,drink,decorations and gifts over the festive season. We all know that Christmas is the time for giving. If you are looking for an unusual Christmas gift, having a 3d crystal made up for someone you love, is a present that will keep on giving well after Christmas has come and gone. It is amazing how people around the world celebrate Christmas in different ways. Climate has a huge impact on how we…
Halloween
Friday 28th September 2018
" Some people are born for Halloween and some are just counting the days to Christmas" -Steven Graham Jones Here's to the kids! This is the time of year for families to have a bit of ghoulish fun and dress up in scary costumes and masks .To go from house to house shouting "Trick or Treat?" It is a time to stock up on your favourite sweets and chocolates, at your neighbours expense. Should you be given a piece of fruit or a health bar, ensure you have a really good trick for the offending neighbour. For the folks! keep them safe. It would be great to encapsulate these memories of those outlandish costume in a crystal for prosperity and to remind you…
Season change
Friday 24th August 2018
"A baby is a blessing, A gift from heaven above A precious little angel To cherish and to love" - Unknown Wow what a great summer we have had this year! Picnics, walks and fun at the coast were the order of the day.I am sure cold drinks and ice cream sales have hit a new high. Soon it will be time to turn the clocks back again and this will happen on Sunday 28th of October. Prepare to give the universe the hour back she gave you in March. Luckily most smart phones and other modern devices update this for us automatically,…
Summer, a time for wedded bliss.
Thursday 12th July 2018
" In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to love" - Lord Tennyson We believe that there are 5 distinct phases that lead up to a couple getting married.Please let us know in our comments space below, if your opinion differs from ours? They are as follows: Attraction - This is the initial stage and may include evoking a liking for someone. This may not only be on a physical level. Couples are drawn to each other for a host of reasons, mutual interests, personality, shared values etc... Generally it would be a combination of a number of these things. Dating - This is the phase where couple get to know each other a little better and generally there is…
The Cross
Monday 18th June 2018
"There are many paths but only one journey" Naomi Judd They say a picture paints a thousand words, so it goes without saying that images of our dearest and most loved, bring to the fore a plethora of emotions and memories. We were recently approached by Ann Sutton to engrave an image of a cross into a crystal. The picture was not of any ordinary cross, but one that was split into two pieces. We at Fine City Crystals asked ourselves "why would anyone want an image of a broken cross encapsulated in Crystal?" After reading Ann's story we understood why. The back story of this cross is fascinating and inspiring. What follows, is a synopsis of the story behind this particular cross, as…
Fathers Day 2018
Friday 4th May 2018
"My father didn't tell me how to live. He lived and let me watch him" - Clarence Budington Kellard Dad, Pop, Pops, Da, Dada, Papa, Padre, Father or just "The old man" Most people have a unique way they refer to their father and this of course in many different languages, as well. It doesn't really matter how we address our fathers, it is the emotion we feel when we mention our patriarch that is important. The word "Dad" is believed to have originated way back in the 16th century. A little know fact about fathers day is that the official flower to celebrate this day is a rose. A red rose if your father is living and a white rose if he has passed…
Welcome to the Fine City Crystals blog.
Monday 16th April 2018
Encapsulating memories can mean many different things to different people. Most of us would like to preserve the memories of things that impact our lives. This is borne out by the numerous photographs we take each day, where we add hundreds ,if not thousands of images to our storage devices. Every now and again we take a real special image, at a real special time, of a real special person or pet, that we would really like to keep for ourselves, or for someone dear to us. Traditional portraits and canvas prints are great, however can be quite expensive and time consuming. A fairly inexpensive way of capturing these images is in high quality crystal. The process is quick and easy and there…
