Inside Baccarat Factory

The Eye of Perfection: Inside the Baccarat factory, where the art of creating fine crystal lives on

I never knew Baccarat, France, was an actual town or the 250-year-old home of the famously collectible fine crystal. While in France recently, I had the good fortune to accompany Regina Garcia, owner of luxury boutique Events in River Oaks, for the rare chance to step behind the curtain and see Baccarat artisans at work.

The Baccarat factory is really much more than a glassworks; it is a quaint, picturesque campus dating back to 1764 when it housed a church, a school, apartments and a variety of glassmaking buildings. Now the church serves as an exhibition space and the school is off site, but 60 families still reside in apartments on the factory grounds, an enviable commute for its artisans.

We marvel at the activity, including a well-choreographed ballet of glass blowing and shaping and firing and shearing, with as many as six artisans working together on a single piece of stemware.

Inside the factory, we marvel at the activity, including a well-choreographed ballet of glass blowing and shaping and firing and shearing, with as many as six artisans working together on a single piece of stemware. At the center of the glass blowing area is a massive 24-oven circular furnace, the oldest in France at 250 years and the last of its kind.

I notice immediately that none of the artisans wear protective gloves or eyewear, despite close proximity to molten crystal and red hot ovens. Our tour guide explains "As artisans, they want to feel their tools and see the work without interference."

The work is intense and artisans take a five-minute break every hour.

At one small furnace off to the side, two teenagers and a middle-aged man are bent over a blowing rod talking intently. Baccarat's artisan apprenticeships begin at age 16 and each apprentice works at least six to seven years with a master craftsman.

To work on the most complicated pieces, a Baccarat artisan completes 15 years of training. (I ponder how many times our millennials change jobs in 15-year span.) The presence of second- and third-generation crystal artisans is also a proud tradition at the company.

Brilliant colors

As we leave the crystal blowing and shaping area, we visit a room where fired and cooled pieces receive their first of many inspections. That's when I finally hear the title I want on my business card: Eye of Perfection. At Baccarat, that's what they call the inspectors who closely examine each piece at every stage of production. If the Eye detects the slightest flaw, the piece is banished to a bin and returned to molten form.

Baccarat is famous for its brilliant colors, especially its signature red. The rich hues are created by adding mineral-bearing salts to the crystal, then applying high heat (540 Celsius) for several hours. No wonder we love the intense red — the key additive is gold dust.

Baccarat is famous for its brilliant colors, especially its signature red.

The most difficult color, resurrected through collaboration with famed designer Philippe Starck, is black. The process is so difficult that about every six attempts yields one perfect black crystal glass.

The discipline and precision of the artisans who cut Baccarat crystal is as impressive as those who blow and shape its pieces. A single vase can take several hours to several days of cutting depending on its complexity. After observing this painstaking craft, we encounter more "Eyes" who carefully examine the cut and polished pieces.

Our last stop is the assembly area for Baccarat's trademark chandeliers. Here we learn that every chandelier is completely assembled and inspected in the factory, then disassembled and shipped. We marvel at the beautiful hanging creations in various stages and the hand sorting of the gleaming pieces and parts. By this time, learning that a single chandelier can take as many as 120 man hours to make no longer surprises us.

Cristal Room

It wasn't until the next evening in Paris, while dining in the Cristal Room at Maison Baccarat, that the whole experience came into perspective. Toasting with our Harcourt champagne glasses in a grand, brick-walled salon that glistened with chandelier-laden ceilings, we truly appreciated the artistry and the time it took to create our surroundings.

The Maison de Baccarat, once the private home of Countess Marie-Laure de Noailles, now reflects Starck's uncanny ability to combine modernism and old world opulence. Along with the delicious flavors offered by Chefs Guy Martin and Adrien Manac’h, the adjacent museum of historic Baccarat pieces, including stemware designed for President Franklin Roosevelt and dozens of other elegant treasures, is the perfect pre- or post-dinner diversion.

The museum and the restaurant (reservations suggested) are open to the public and well worth placing on any Paris itinerary.

Main dining room at Maison Baccarat.

Photo by Sandra Porter

Main dining room at Maison Baccarat.

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get lost

'Hidden' Round Top property transformed into a new boutique hotel

Photo by Dagnushka

Hideaway Round Top will open in January.

When designer Emily Seiders, founder and creative director of Studio Seiders, along with husband and business partner Rick, decided to take a leisurely, lockdown-induced, drive to Round Top in 2020, they had no idea that what they were embarking on would truly be an adventure — say hello to Hideaway Round Top.

A serendipitous for sale sign sighting off of famed Highway 237 led the Seiders to rescue the 21-acre property — previously sold and permitted for a 100 townhome development — and create an environmentally-sensitive boutique hotel and retreat for guests to relax, unwind, explore, and “go get lost.” Enlisting the expertise of architect Sam Burch, the Seiders are nearing the conclusion of phase one of the project and expect to receive guests beginning in January 2026.

Hideaway is currently comprised of three buildings: one 3,321-square foot main house and two 692-square foot cottages — aptly named “Prairie Cottage” and “Woodlands Cottage.” Tying these guest accommodations together are winding paths, an organic, spring-inspired pool, a rustic stone fire pit enclave, curated recreation spaces, plus a large pond with yoga decks and a fishing pier.

Both Emily and Rick have deep Texas roots, with their families arriving in the 1850s and 1836, respectively. Leaning heavily into that longstanding heritage, Seiders has designed every aspect of Hideaway to share a unique Texas experience with her guests.

“I was always struck by the kind of confluence of this creative community, with Round Top’s rich history and culture,” Seiders tells CultureMap. “When we decided to put down roots here, I just wanted to really honor the time and place, and the land and the people who have been here before us.”

The design and materials all focus on the original German architecture in the area. Limestone set with a traditional mortar shmear, natural-faced, white oak cladding for both the interior and exterior, plus a glass-enclosed dogtrot in the main house pay homage to generations past, with each cottage reflecting a similar style — minus the dogtrot. Tiles set in playful, checkered patterns and others custom made to showcase native flora and fauna all blend seamlessly with antique textiles and quilts framed and reimagined as modern art installations.

In the main house, three en suite bedrooms and a powder bath are divided from a generously-appointed chef’s kitchen, full bar, and open concept living and dining room by the aforementioned glassed dogtrot that serves as an additional seating area and gallery space. Expansive porches offer views of native-only plantings and landscapes, while an outdoor kitchen, dining area, and lounge spaces provide every opportunity for guests to embrace the outdoors while enjoying the creature comforts of home.

“I want to create spaces where life is meant to be lived,” explains Seiders. “It was a little bit of a dance — as a hospitality project — to do that. It’s hard to put a label on what [style] it is, but, I think it’s just the story of Texas, distilled through my designer lens, with really intentional artwork that helps tell that story with Texas heritage at its core.”

Nearly every element of the interiors has been crafted and outfitted by over 100 independent artisans from across the country — all the way down to traditional upholstery techniques from a maker in Pennsylvania. “One of the things I want to do here is pull back the veil a little bit, because, honestly, they put their hearts and souls into these pieces, too,” says Seiders. “I’m excited to highlight the artisans that we’ve worked with because they are real artists — it takes forever just to get one of their pieces.”

One thing sure to get guests swooning is the product of a collaboration with luxe linen company Morrow. While linens chosen for Hideaway are all from Morrow collections that are available online, the cozy robes are custom exclusives — so make sure to snap a photo for the ‘gram, because they won’t be seen anywhere else.

As it stands, the main house and two cottages comfortably sleep a total of 19 guests. Hideaway’s website will redirect to local bookings through Hostie beginning in mid-November, with guest stays beginning January 1st. Guests are able to book the main house and the cottages separately, but during the high seasons (like during Round Top’s famous Fall Antiques Show) Hideaway will likely only be available for buyouts — that’s still being decided.

Those looking for larger events and accommodations will be pleased to learn that phase two (2027) includes the addition of two, 284-square-foot tiny homes, plus a gorgeous 3,409-square-foot event space. The space, with expansive steel and glass windows, will overlook the pond and offer a catering kitchen, full bar, and private back-of-house access.

“We wanted to get the bones down, and then figure out: ‘What does the community need? What does the land need? What’s appropriate, and what’s not?’ The idea evolved quite a bit,” Seiders explains of the decision not to build a vendor space. “Scaled-down, small, private dinners, small music venue space, small weddings and that sort of thing is what made sense. But it will feel contiguous with what’s here — it will be a fun added space.”

One thing Seiders hopes is that guests will heed the advice of the theme of Hideaway and “go get lost.” Growing up in Houston, Seiders would go with her family to their Schulenburg farm every Sunday after church, where Seiders and her siblings would be encouraged by their mother to play outside, and “go get lost.”

“So we would. We’d go get lost,” says Seiders. “We’d go explore the woods, climb the hay bales, swim in the tank, fish, we’d pretend to get stuck in quicksand — the whole thing. That freedom really spurred this creativity, and I hope that guests here at Hideaway will feel that sense of freedom and retreat, and the ability to kind of tap into their own creativity in that same way.”

A taste of that “go get lost” spirit was in full swing during Round Top’s recent Fall Antiques Show. The Seiders hosted friends, family, and members of the media for an exclusive tour, plus dinner by Uchi Austin and Loro Asian Smokehouse. Guests received Hideaway tote bags, leather journals, s’mores kits, branded scarves, and custom monogrammed silver scarf ties by Amanda Reid.

Hideaway is directly next door to The Compound, which is arguably Round Top’s most popular vendor market. Compound owner — and one time Round Top mayor — Mark Massey is certainly relieved to have had the Seiders scoop up the land, noting that the idea of a 100 townhome development in Round Top “gave everyone a heart attack.”

Seiders is happy with how it all worked out in the end: “Round Top has grown a lot in the last several years, and that’s exciting, but we also saw it as an opportunity to create a place that felt like a pause for a bit on the grid, and it gives us the opportunity to tell the story of the people, the cultures, the land, and to be a place that your neighbors can be proud of — that felt authentic and appropriate to time and place.”

Photo by Dagnushka

Hideaway Round Top will open in January.