Cristallo is a

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

that is totally clear (like

rock crystal Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical fo ...

), without the slight yellow or greenish color originating from

iron oxide An iron oxide is a chemical compound composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Ferric oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of which is rust. Iron ...

impurities. This effect is achieved through small additions of

manganese oxide Manganese oxide is any of a variety of manganese oxides and hydroxides.Wells A.F. (1984) ''Structural inorganic chemistry'' 5th edition Oxford Science Publications, . These include * Manganese(II) oxide, MnO * Manganese(II,III) oxide, Mn3O4 * Man ...

.R. W. Douglas: ''A history of glassmaking'', G T Foulis & Co Ltd, Henley-on-Thames, 1972, . Cristallo often has a low

lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...

content, which makes it prone to glass corrosion (otherwise known as

glass disease Glass disease, also referred to as sick glass or glass illness, is a degradation process of glass that can result in weeping, crizzling, spalling, cracking and fragmentation. Glass disease is caused by an inherent instability in the chemical co ...

). The invention of Cristallo glass is attributed to

Angelo Barovier Angelo Barovier (, in Venice – 1460, in Venice) was an Italian glass artist. Raised in a family with a long tradition of glass working, Barovier was certainly the best-known member and significant for uniting the knowledge passed down for gene ...

around 1450.

Materials

In addition to common glass making materials,

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

pebbles, and alume catino, a particularly suitable form of

soda ash Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda, soda ash, sal soda, and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield alkaline solutions in water ...

, are used in the making of cristallo glass. Rather than using common sand, crushed quartz pebbles were used instead. The quartz pebbles were typically from the

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

and the

Adige The Adige is the second-longest river in Italy, after the Po. It rises near the Reschen Pass in the Vinschgau in the province of South Tyrol, near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland, and flows through most of northeastern Italy ...

rivers. The quartz pebbles went through a rigorous screening process before being selected for use in cristallo production. The quartz pebbles had to be free of yellow and black veins and also had to be able to produce sparks when struck with steel. The quartz pebbles which passed the selection process were heated to the point where the stones began to glow, then placed into cold water. Then the pebbles were crushed and ground. The typical flux used in the production of cristallo was called alume catino. Alume catino was derived from the ash of the

salsola soda ''Soda inermis'', the opposite-leaved saltwort, oppositeleaf Russian thistle, or barilla plant, is a small (to 0.7 m tall), annual, succulent shrub that is native to the Mediterranean Basin.Glass trademarks and brands