La Rochère

Glassmakers Since 1475.

La Rochère was founded in 1475 by Simon de Thysac, who described himself as a gentleman glassmaker, and it has been making glass on the same spot in the forests of eastern France ever since. That is seventeen years before Columbus, which rather puts most claims of heritage into perspective. The forests supplied the firewood for the furnaces, the ferns the potash, the local sandstone the silica, and the glassworks was attacked and burned down several times in its first two centuries without ever quite taking the hint.

Made by hand, with a seam.

The master glassmakers still gather, blow and shape molten glass the way it has been done for five centuries, which takes about a decade to learn properly. The result carries a visible seam that has become the house signature, and the Bee collection, with its small embossed bees, is the one people recognise across a table. It is all dishwasher safe, which Simon de Thysac could not have promised.

For more for the table, have a browse of our glasses, cups + mugs and dining + tableware collections, or the wider kitchen + dining edit. If it's a present, see our gifts, and there are more from the Continent in our European brands.

Visit the Glassworks.

The glassworks at Passavant-la-Rochère has been open to visitors since 1969. You can watch the glassmakers at the furnaces, walk through the museum and the Japanese garden, and finish in the factory shop, housed in a timber-framed building that is worth the trip on its own. It opens seasonally, so check before setting off. Find it at Passavant-la-Rochère, Haute-Saône, France, and for more brands you can see in person, have a browse of our European shops and visit in person collections.