This Is Why I Can't Have Nice Things
July 19, 2015 6:42 PM   Subscribe

I just snapped the stem on one of my great-grandma's cordial glasses. Is it fixable?

I have three little crystal cordial glasses that used to belong to my great-grandmother; they have fairly thin stems resting on bases. They have more sentimental value than monetary, and so I use them - but just now, while I was cleaning one, it knocked against a heavy bowl and the base snapped off. I'd like to fix it somehow.

I checked the stem to see if I could superglue it, but it doesn't look like a clean break - it looks like there's some chip that's missing. Should I try to find that chip and superglue it? Or is this the kind of thing a glass blower could fix by melting each end and pressing together while they're soft or something? Or is it not worth it because it'd be weak no matter what and am I just out of luck?
posted by EmpressCallipygos to Home & Garden (6 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
I think it is probably not fixable, but send a picture to Replacements; they replied to my mother with an obscure 1920s wine glass pattern within 24 hours on Christmas Day. If it can be bought, they will find it, and their rate is basically market rate. $5 more than you'd pay if you could find it yourself at a garage sale.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:48 PM on July 19, 2015 [5 favorites]


It can be fixed. If it was a clean break, some glass adhesive would do it. With a missing chunk, you may want to look for a crystal restorer.
posted by cecic at 7:08 PM on July 19, 2015


Ugh. I'm sorry. I had exactly the same thing happen about 6 months ago, and that is a sick feeling.
I'm in T.O. (Can.), so YMMV. I looked into glass blowers, but because of the age of the piece, there were concerns over lead/other bad stuff content. Instead I took it to a local antique dealer, and she repaired it for a reasonable amount.
(Can't remember exactly, but somewhere around $30.)
Might be another option to look into.
posted by whowearsthepants at 8:00 PM on July 19, 2015


This was recently recommended as "the most amazing glass repair glue EVER!!" with a side note that the resin works to fill in small missing chips.
posted by kmennie at 8:01 PM on July 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


kmennie's recommendation looks like what I came in to say, but if you're loathe to do the repairs yourself you could always send it to people like these guys who seem to be some kind of wizards.
posted by satoshi at 8:08 PM on July 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


Not really, not that it wouldn't be recognizably so. Easier to make a replica.

That's why good old stuff get precious, it can be darned hard to preserve. My condolences.
posted by porpoise at 12:37 AM on July 20, 2015


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