This year, the Květná 1794 glassworks has prepared an exceptional limited collection for Valentine's Day, which celebrates the precision of craftsmanship and the beauty of coloured hand-blown glass. The edition was created in an intense ruby red shade, which is part of the glassworks' colour palette, but only rarely appears in current production. The Yra and Vial beverage collections are presented in red. The edition is only available in limited quantities in the low teens.

Lovers of Czech hand-blown glass have the opportunity to delight their loved ones with a truly exceptional limited edition piece. The technological complexity makes ruby glass a material that is rarely worked with. This is the first time that the glassworks under the current artistic direction of Klára Janypková and Tomáš Kučera have reached for the shade.

"The red colour of the glass was often the most sought after of all the colours. Glass imitating the colour of natural stones - rubies - was also called ruby glass. However, it is not an easy colour to produce, and most glassworks have moved away from this colour. The distinctive ruby red is a colour full of emotion and we wanted to work with it in our limited edition chosen for very special occasions," says Tomáš Kučera, art director of Květná 1794, on the creation of the new limited collection.

Designers Janypková and Kučera decided to work with two popular beverage lines from the glassworks' portfolio - Vial and Yra. In the ruby version they get a completely new expression.

The Vial collection, including a glass stoppered bottle and water glass, is based on minimalist lines and visual lightness. The subtle shapes emphasise the transparency of the material, while the accent colours add a subtle personality to the collection.

The Yra collection, on the other hand, features a gently undulating surface inspired by the movement of water and traditional glass patterns. The elegant silhouette with embossed relief highlights the handmade craftsmanship and adds a visual and tactile dimension to the glass. Thanks to its thicker walls, it is also suitable for everyday use, for example in gastropubs.

The production of ruby glass is one of the most technologically demanding glassmaking disciplines, requiring exceptional precision and experience of the entire team.

"Ruby is a charging colour, which means that the resulting colour is achieved by additional heat treatment. If the temperature and time of charring are not chosen properly, the glass can be completely deteriorated. The resulting colour will then not be ruby red, but orange to orange-brown," explains Eva Priecel Baďurová, technologist at Květná 1794, explaining the background of the production.

The complexity of the whole process is one of the reasons why the collection was made only in limited quantities of less than a dozen pieces. It is available for purchase from mid-January on the Květná 1794 e-shop.

In addition to the limited edition, the glassworks has also prepared a thematic section "Valentine's Day" on its e-shop. Here, customers will find a selection of product constants in a delicate pink shade of rosaline - from the popular Desidére vases to coffee sets from the Drop collection and Fleur de Květná glass flowers.

The section also includes wine and beverage glassware, such as sparkling wine glasses from the popular Auriga collection, and gift packaging, including the Fuchs collection, which is based on designs by functionalist architect Bohuslav Fuchs.