New York company chosen to make new crystals for New Year's Eve ball
PORT JERVIS (WABC) -- Come New Year's Eve, all eyes will be on the crystal ball in Times Square.
And this year, one local company will have some bragging rights as we count down to 2025.
Gillinder Glass usually makes the glass domes that you might notice one day in airport runway lights, but in a few days, the world will get a look at something special created in this facility in Port Jervis.
The crystals being made will adorn the ball dropped from One Times Square on New Year's Eve.
"We're actually really proud of it, it's a great opportunity for us to get involved in the architectural sort of end of the business," owner of Gillinder Glass Jim Jones said.
Gillinder Glass was established in 1851 and specializes in industrial products.
For the New Year's Eve ball, thre triangle-shaped pieces were designed of different sizes and with different patterns.
Most years a few of the ball's crystals are swapped out, but this year's edition is entirely brand new.
"Everything started off a like a rough sketch on a piece of paper, ideas back and forth to design, to 3D modeling, and then to actual production," said Designer Lewis Still.
Originally Gillinder was in talks to design next year's ball but after a tour of the facility, they were asked to produce this year's edition. That meant designing and fabricating thousands of crystals in two months.
"So it was an immediate of 'oh my God, you sure about that?' and then alright, let's get it done," Still said.
They produced 2,688 crystals in half the time it normally would take.
Specifically formulated glass, hand pressed and inspected multiple times.
Come New Year's Eve, like millions of others, the workers say their eyes will be skyward.
"I can't wait to be honest we're not even there yet and I feel that pride and you know to say, we did that," quality control specialist Erik Camacho said.
"It was a lot of moving parts to get this done in such a short amount of time, but we were up to the challenge and I think we nailed it," Still said.
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