Eclat

Longchamp is the widest range and the logical starting set: a 32 cl tumbler and a smaller 23 cl one, highball glasses of 36 and 28 cl, a 14 cl flute, a 4.5 cl shot glass, and a 6 cl liqueur glass. That covers an entire table in one pattern. Ultime goes one size larger, with a 35 cl tumbler and a 45 cl highball, plus a 21 cl champagne glass with a gold rim. Macassar and Ornements remain with the 32 cl tumbler, while Rendez-Vous and Lady Diamond focus on the 25 and 27 cl goblets.

Choose the size based on what goes in it, not on what looks good. For neat whisky or a cocktail with a single ice cube, 32 to 35 cl is more than enough, and you’ll find that in old fashioned glasses. For water and soft drinks at the table, the taller sizes are more comfortable. The 25 to 27 cl goblets are more compact than most white wine glasses and are better suited to an aperitif than to an extensive wine list.

Put cut glass where the light catches it. A Longchamp tumbler on a table with candles shows what the pattern was made for; the same tumbler under a stark kitchen spotlight does almost nothing. That is not a detail but the reason these series exist, and it explains why they mainly come out for dinners and holidays.

For drinks, the combination of the 6 cl liqueur glasses and the 4.5 cl shot glasses from the same series works well: limoncello, genever or a herbal bitter from the freezer, in small measures and ice-cold. The 14 and 21 cl flutes are on the narrow side, which makes them excellent for a champagne cocktail in which the sugar cube has to keep fizzing at the bottom. Anyone who prefers to pour something brown can use the tumblers for an old fashioned with one large ice cube.

Crystalline is glass with a raised mineral content that comes close to the clarity and refraction of crystal, but without lead. In practice that means two things: you can safely keep drink in it for longer, and the glass is harder than real lead crystal, so it scratches less easily. The flip side is that the cut grooves hold on to dirt where smooth glass does not.

So wash on a short cycle and rinse thoroughly, because soap residue settles right in the cut grooves and dulls the pattern. Polish with a dry, lint-free cloth and work in the direction of the grooves. Limescale marks come off with a dash of vinegar in the rinsing water. Keep glasses with a gold rim out of the dishwasher and wash them by hand, otherwise the rim wears away.

If you are specifically looking for bubbles, the narrow shapes are in the champagne flute glasses and the wide ones among the coupes, both with more brands side by side. If you want to supplement the small sizes from Longchamp, take a look at the liqueur glasses, which also include the matching aperitif and shot sizes. And if you regularly pour a bottle of sparkling wine, a champagne cooler keeps it at the right temperature without having to put it back in the refrigerator every time.