Waterford Crystal sees in the New Year

Irish crystal-maker Waterford Crystal has long been associated with New Year’s Eve for more than just their fine champagne glasses. For the last fifteen years, Waterford has designed the Time Square ball that drops every year.

This year though, Waterford invited revellers to share in the “Gift of Imagination,” as part of their “Greatest Gifts” series that will decorate the Waterford Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball for the next decade.

This year, they decided to seek the design from children and the result was a panel design of a single rose bloom recreated from a drawing by 12-year-old Coraliz Martinez, a bone cancer patient.

Each year over the next 10, the panels will be replaced to represent an image that symbolises the hopes of the year.

“Imagination is a celebration of curiosity and whimsy and has resulted in some of history’s most significant innovations in science, literature and the arts. It can be found in its most pure and authentic form in the minds of children, which makes them the perfect designers for a unique Waterford Crystal triangle,” said Waterford Vice President of Global Marketing, Regan Iglesia.

Ball Fun Facts

• The Ball is a geodesic sphere, 12 feet in diameter, and weighs 11,875 pounds.

• The Ball is covered with a total of 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles that vary in size, and range in length from 4 ¾ inches to 5 ¾ inches per side.

• For Times Square 2014, all 2,688 of the Waterford Crystal triangles introduce the new design Gift of Imagination – featuring a series of intricate wedge cuts that appear to be endless mirrored reflections of each other inspiring our imagination with a kaleidoscope of colourful patterns on the Ball.

• The 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles are bolted to 672 LED modules, which are attached to the aluminium frame of the Ball.

• The Ball is illuminated by 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs (light emitting diodes). Each LED module contains 48 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs – 12 red, 12 blue, 12 green, and 12 white for a total of 8,064 of each colour.

• The Ball is capable of creating a palette of more than 16 million vibrant colours and billions of patterns producing a spectacular kaleidoscope effect atop One Times Square.