People often struggle with what to buy someone special for their birthday or Christmas present. A personalised gift says that you care, and engraved wine glasses are the perfect fit.
To celebrate a birthday, mark a wedding or commemorate an anniversary, engraved wine glasses make a touching statement. They also make a good gift for a business to reward its employees or say thank you to special customers.
Engraved wine glasses do not cost a fortune
Having a quality wine glass engraved with a personalised message need not be expensive. You could pay less than £10 for a glass including engraving, or spend over £100 for an Earle Crystal luxury wine glass.
A brief history of wine drinking vessels
People have been giving each other wine glasses as presents for hundreds of years. Though people have been drinking wine for a few thousand years, the early drinkers did not drink out of wine glasses.
The Romans, between 500 to 600 AD, drank wine from lead goblets. These were owned by the upper classes, with less well-off people drinking from pottery goblets.
The Saxons invaded Britain and their nobles bought gold goblets covered in jewels. The more common people drank out of animal horns. These horns had no stems and legs so could not be laid down without spilling the wine. This meant that drinkers would down the wine in one go.
By the late 900s, wooden tankards were common drinking vessels. In the late 1000s, the first clear glass cups were in use. In the mid-1300s, cups known as Black Jacks were introduced, which were made from leather and shaped like jugs.
From the 1600s glass was the most common material for wine vessels. Engraved Jacobite glasses were made in the 1700s.
Taverns introduced dice glasses that had two dice sealed in the base, which were shaken in a game to find the highest value. The winner of the dice game paid for the drinks at the end of the evening.
The Last Drop glass included an engraving of a hanging man whose full figure was not revealed until the last drop of wine was drunk.
In 1756, the Riedel glassworks developed a series of wine glasses of different shapes. Each type of Riedel glass is designed for an individual wine variety. Over 260 years later, the Riedel company is still selling glasses for wine lovers who believe that the shape of the glass enhances the flavour of each wine variety.
The gift that’s treasured
Engraved wine glasses can contain a message or dedication. A logo or image can be engraved on it. For the wine lover, an engraved wine glass in a presentation box is a treasured possession that can be displayed proudly in the home.
Whether you want to mark a special occasion, reward an employee, or simply say thank you to someone who has gone out of their way to help you, engraved wine glasses communicate a message that says that you think they are special.
