As the clock counts down to the New Year, spectators across the world will watch as the millions of colors and billions of patterns produced by the Waterford Crystal New Year’s Eve
And while the beauty of the world’s most iconic New Year’s Eve celebration is sure to be appreciated by all, Waterford's Master Artisan Tom Brennan, a second-generation glass-blower who has worked at the company since 1986, says an entire year of planning and designing goes into the production of the crystal panels each New Year, a fact many may not realize.
“It’s hard work, but it’s great fun,” Brennan says. “We want to make sure we refresh over the previous year. It moves very very quickly and we never stop."
Covered with a total of 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles, the Ball is 12 feet in diameter and weighs 11,875 pounds. This year’s “Gift of Fortitude” theme is the second in Waterford’s planned decade of the “Greatest Gifts” series.
Tom Brennan holds up a Waterford Crystal during the 2015 New Year's Eve Waterford Crystal... [+]
To that end, 288 of the 2,688 crystal panels will feature the “Gift of Fortitude” design, diamond cuts on either side of a crystal pillar, to represent “the inner attributes of resolve, courage and spirit necessary to triumph over adversity.”
The rest of the 2,400 crystal triangles will have the “Gift of Imagination” design from last year. While the Ball remains suspended above One Times Square all year long, new panels are introduced each year.
To Brennan and the rest of the Waterford team, the price of creating the Ball isn’t important. Instead, it’s symbolism of the New Year to billions of people across the world is payment enough to create it.
“For us, it’s priceless,” he says. “This is a moment in time we want to share with the world, to reflect on the year gone by. This is about saving the moment with your family and friends, it’s not a cost. It’s about saving that moment.”
This year, some of the crystal panels will also represent the International Rescue Committee's humanitarian work with refugees around the world.
History
Times Square has hosted a New Year’s Eve celebration since 1904, and the famous Ball drop since 1907. But the tradition of a ball “dropping” to signal the passage of time dates back to 1833, when the first “time-ball” was installed on top of England’s Royal Observatory, where it fell at one o’clock every afternoon so ship captains could adjust their chronometers accordingly.
Today, few time balls still exist, with the exception of the United States Naval Observatory’s and the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball.
Since its creation in 1907, the Times Square Ball has seen seven complete redesigns. The first ball was made of iron and wood and was covered with 100 light bulbs, weighing in at 700 pounds. That was followed by a 400-pound iron Ball in 1920 and a 150-pound aluminum Ball with 180 light bulbs in 1955.
From 1981 until 1988, the Ball was transformed into an
New York City Mayor Ed Koch gives a thumbs up as he flips a switch to test the Big Apple Ball,... [+]
By 1995, the Ball was made of aluminum, rhinestones and had computer controls. The first crystal Ball was created in 1999 to welcome the new millennium, and the Ball’s own centennial in 2007 saw the introduction of modern LED technology.
Waterford has designed the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball for the past 15 years, since the new millennium. Brennan says as soon as January 1 rolls around, Waterford designers, artisans and engineers will get to work designing and crafting the ball for 2016.
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