Glass tumblers with finger grip indentation

May 28, 2019 7:51 PM

Last year I went to a restaurant that had glass tumblers (tall and short) that had about a centimeter deep indentation all around their circumference. They were a marvel to hold, so comfortable in the hand. I want to buy some just like them. But I'm not having any luck finding them on the web. I've found tumblers with an asymmetrical indentation for a finger grip, but none with the grip all around the glass. Can anyone else find them?
posted by ShooBoo to Shopping (26 answers total)

Do you mean something more or less like this? Or more like this? Anchor Hocking used to make a number of collectible ridged tumbler glasses and you can find knockoffs occasionally.
posted by jessamyn at 8:06 PM on May 28, 2019

Can you ask the restaurant where they get theirs?
posted by number9dream at 8:13 PM on May 28, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Jessamyn - not like either of those. There was a single indentation around the circumference of the tumbler, about half-way between the top and bottom.
posted by ShooBoo at 8:18 PM on May 28, 2019

Was it like any of these, or was it more/less subtle?
posted by needs more cowbell at 8:26 PM on May 28, 2019

Response by poster: Here's a low-quality drawing of what they looked like.
posted by ShooBoo at 8:35 PM on May 28, 2019

Best answer: Here's one style that is somewhat similar to your drawing.

This one seems really close.
posted by danceswithlight at 9:07 PM on May 28, 2019

These Duralex Picardie tumblers are more subtly indented than your drawing, but could they be the ones?
posted by flabdablet at 9:26 PM on May 28, 2019

Response by poster: The sides were smooth except the indentation for the grip.
posted by ShooBoo at 9:29 PM on May 28, 2019

How do you feel about Tab?
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:33 PM on May 28, 2019

Best answer: And the indentation was definitely inwards as you've drawn it, not outwards as in these Royal Design tea glasses?
posted by flabdablet at 9:38 PM on May 28, 2019

Maybe something like this?
posted by dancinglamb at 10:29 PM on May 28, 2019

dancinglamb found what I expected the glasses to look like from your description, but perhaps not your drawing. I've never seen what you've drawn but they look pretty cool.
posted by Carillon at 11:32 PM on May 28, 2019

Best answer: These stemless wine glasses have one indent all the way around, but they are not as angular. I, too, hope someone finds what you have drawn!
posted by delezzo at 11:36 PM on May 28, 2019

I did a quick perusal of webstaurant.com and didn't see anything that fit the bill. A more in depth search might yield better results, they have most of the standard restaurant supply glasses there.

The best bet though would be to call the restaurant during their non busy hours, ask to speak to the bar or manager or whatever, tell them you fell in love with their glasses and wondered if you could get the model number of them (Libbey and Anchor Hocking are the dominant glassware makers so you can look at their online catalogs as well).

Odds are they have extra cases in their storage room and they can just read it off the side of the box.

They'e most likely restaurant supply so you would need to buy a minimum of a case once you have the name and number of them, and depending on their preciousness, cases carry anything from one to four dozen.
posted by newpotato at 3:10 AM on May 29, 2019

Overall silhouette isn't what you drew, but maybe these?
posted by Mchelly at 5:49 AM on May 29, 2019

Seconding giving the restaurant a call to see if someone there can help you source the glasses.
posted by cooker girl at 5:58 AM on May 29, 2019

Crate & Barrel seems to have a lot of textured glasses. Callaway has an indent.
posted by amanda at 6:03 AM on May 29, 2019

Response by poster: Unfortunately, the restaurant is out of business, and didn't have a web site from what I can tell. And was in Australia.
The closest has been the stemless "Riedel Swirl Red Wine Glasses" that danceswithlight and delezzo linked to. However, those are wine glasses with thin glass, while the ones I'm looking for have the thick glass of a tumbler and also have a tall size. But we need some wine glasses too, so we may get those.

The Royal Design tea glasses that flabdablet linked to have the reverse of the indentation I was looking for, but do look like a promising alternative.

Thanks everyone.
posted by ShooBoo at 6:35 AM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]

I wonder if there isn't a glassware maker or artist who does wholesale in Australia that makes these? Doing a search for a few terms lead me to this one. Any closer?

On edit, those are plastic! Argh! Now I want these glasses.
posted by amanda at 6:54 AM on May 29, 2019

This, or this?

I googled “stackable tumbler”, lots of similar stuff came up. Often those indentations are for heatproof bands/removable plastic handles.
posted by tinkletown at 7:51 AM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]

Or these?
posted by tinkletown at 7:54 AM on May 29, 2019

It's probably not these, but this is what came to mind when you said "inward indentation."
posted by blnkfrnk at 9:11 AM on May 29, 2019

How about these guys?
ACOPA THUMBPRINT HIBALL GLASS (comes in different sizes)
ARCHITECTE HIBALL
Libbey Impressions
posted by purple_bird at 9:49 AM on May 29, 2019

While the indentation sits higher on this tumbler than on the Tab vintage glasses: NEAT Spirit Glassware
(Site also offers an easy-grip "hourglass" copper-plated tumbler.)
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:35 AM on May 29, 2019

These have a convex indentation, but could it be Moroccan water glasses/Beldi water glasses?

Here are some examples:
Amazon
Etsy
posted by jraz at 12:11 PM on May 29, 2019

Best answer: I found some that look similar to your drawing by searching “waisted tumblers”: Etsy
posted by meadowlands at 12:46 PM on May 29, 2019 [4 favorites]