The short answer: lead crystal means at least 24% lead oxide. It's fine for adults at the occasional Christmas dinner, but don't store spirits in a crystal decanter. With painted glasses, choose designs that stop about ¾ inch below the rim. Gold- and platinum-banded glasses are hand-wash only. Plan five 5-ounce pours per bottle of wine, and for a party about 1.5 glasses per guest for the first hour.
Christmas glassware does two jobs. On the open shelf or the bar cart it is decoration for a month: red and green glass, etched snowflakes, gold bands catching the tree lights. At the table it's tableware, washed after every meal and drunk from by everyone, including the guests you'd rather not give lead to. The table setting as a whole, with plate spacing and centerpiece heights, is in our guide to the Christmas table in inches. This page covers the glasses only.
What the Labels Mean: Crystal, Lead and Paint
Erstellt mit AICrystal. "Crystal" is a defined term, not a marketing word. The European directive that set the categories, Directive 69/493/EEC, still governs how crystal is labeled in the trade:
| Label | What it contains | What it means at the table |
|---|---|---|
| Full lead crystal | at least 30% lead oxide (PbO) | heaviest and most brilliant; occasional use |
| Lead crystal | at least 24% lead oxide | the classic cut-crystal heirloom glass; occasional use |
| Crystalline / crystal glass | at least 10% of zinc, barium, lead or potassium oxides, alone or together | often sold as "lead-free crystal"; everyday use |
| Glass (soda-lime) | none of the above | most everyday and painted holiday glasses |
Is lead crystal safe? Consumer Reports quotes experts saying that for adults "other than pregnant women, drinking from lead-crystal stemware once in a while should be fine." The risk grows with time in contact. That's why the advice is "don't store liquor in a lead crystal decanter for an extended time." Pour the port back into its bottle when the evening is over. Its blunt summary: "Save lead crystal for special occasions." Christmas dinner qualifies. Every day of the week doesn't.
Painted glasses. This is the more surprising risk. In the Plymouth University study Consumer Reports covered, researchers tested 72 decorated glasses and "more than 70 percent of the painted surfaces tested contained lead and nearly 70 percent contained cadmium." The worst results came from the rim: 13 of 14 glasses with painted decoration near the top released more lead than California considers safe. California's Proposition 65 sets its warning threshold for paint within 20 millimeters, about ¾ inch, of the lip.
That gives a simple shopping rule for the holly-and-reindeer glasses that fill the shelves every November:
- Decoration that stops at least ¾ inch below the rim is fine to drink from.
- Decoration that runs up to the rim, or a painted band on the lip itself, goes on display or holds candy and ornaments, not drinks.
- Etched, cut or sandblasted patterns are cut into the glass, not painted on it, so there is nothing to wear off.
Gold Rims, Decals and the Dishwasher
Erstellt mit AIThe gold band is what makes a holiday glass look like an occasion. It's also the part that the dishwasher strips first. Lenox's use and care page is specific:
- Gold- or platinum-banded drinkware: "Always wash by hand."
- No soft-scrub cleaners: their abrasives "may scratch or remove the gold edge line."
- To restore a dulled band, "use a mixture of half water and half vinegar to wipe the gold band."
- Crystal by hand in "warm, soapy water and a soft cloth or sponge," and avoid "extremely hot water, which can cause thermal shock and cracking." Dry it straight away to avoid hard-water spots.
If it does go in the dishwasher, because it's plain glass labeled dishwasher-safe, Lenox's rules are top rack, pieces not touching, a gentle cycle and mild detergent. Cloudiness is usually etching, and Lenox names the causes: "soft water, high temperatures, or too much dish detergent." The fix is to use less detergent (but at least one tablespoon), keep the water at 140 °F or below, and load fewer pieces so they rinse properly. Etching is permanent. Prevention is the only cure.
Storing them for eleven months. "Never store crystal stemware upside down," says Lenox: "The lip is the most fragile part of the glass." Store them rim up, with air space between pieces, in a closed cabinet or boxed with dividers, so they don't need a dusty rewash before next Christmas.
Which Glasses for What
Wine. One standard drink is "a 5-ounce glass of wine at 12% alcohol by volume" according to the NIAAA. Holiday wine glasses are much bigger than the pour. The wine merchant Millesima gives a standard red glass at 12 to 16 fluid ounces full and a white glass at about 12. A 5-ounce pour should come up to around the widest part of the bowl. If your festive glasses hold 8 ounces in total, they're too small for red and fine for white.
Sparkling. According to Wikipedia's champagne glass article, a flute holds about 180 to 200 ml (6.1 to 6.8 US fl oz) and a coupe about 180 to 240 ml (6.1 to 8.1 fl oz). The narrow flute is easier to carry through a crowded room; the wide coupe spills if anyone gestures. For a standing party, use flutes. For a seated toast at the table, coupes are more festive.
Stemless and tumblers. Painted stemless glasses are the most common Christmas glass and the most practical for a party: they don't tip, they fit in the dishwasher (unless gold-banded or labeled hand-wash), and children can have juice in the same design. Apply the rim rule above.
How Many to Have
Erstellt mit AIAt a drinks party, guests put a glass down and pick up a fresh one. The rental company Party Rental Ltd. plans "1.5 glasses per person for the first hour and 1 glass per hour for every hour after":
| Guests | 2-hour party | 3-hour party | 4-hour party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 30 glasses | 42 | 54 |
| 20 | 50 | 70 | 90 |
| 30 | 75 | 105 | 135 |
Few households own 70 matching glasses, and that's the point of the table: mix the festive set with plain ones, or rent.
At a sit-down dinner: a water glass and a wine glass per person, plus a flute if there's a toast. Per bottle, Wine Spectator says "a 750ml bottle will yield about five 5-ounce glasses of wine" (source). Sparkling wine is usually counted at six glasses a bottle, because flutes are poured smaller.
Setting them. The Emily Post Institute's table-setting guide puts the glasses "on the upper right of the setting at about a 45-degree angle off the tip of the knives." The water glass goes first and stays all meal, and the wine glass goes "slightly to the right of the water glass." With several glasses, they "cascade down and to the right from the water glass," with the first course's glass nearest the diner's hand.
Glasses as Decoration
For a month a year, the glasses also live on a shelf. Some ways to make them work there:
- Open shelving or a glass-front cabinet: one color of glass per shelf reads better than a mixed rainbow. Red on one shelf, clear and gold on the next. How much a shelf holds is in our floating shelves guide.
- The bar cart: a tray of six matching glasses, a decanter (empty until the party), a bowl of clementines and a sprig of greenery. Nothing else.
- Painted glasses you shouldn't drink from: a cluster of three with ornaments, cranberries or LED tea lights inside makes a centerpiece. Our holiday centerpiece guide has the height rules.
- Real candles in glasses: only in heat-resistant hurricane glass, never in fine stemware. Thin crystal can crack from heat the same way it does from hot water.
The style matches the rest of the room: brass, amber and ruby glass for a warm, traditional room; clear crystal and silver for the elegant holiday look; pressed and hobnail glass for vintage-modern rooms.
The Short Version
- Lead crystal = at least 24% lead oxide. Occasional use for adults; no long storage in decanters; not for pregnant guests.
- Painted glasses: decoration ¾ inch or more below the rim, or use them for display.
- Gold and platinum bands: hand-wash only. Half water, half vinegar to brighten.
- Dishwasher cloudiness is etching: less detergent, 140 °F or below, fewer pieces.
- Store stemware rim up, never upside down.
- Five 5-ounce pours per bottle of wine, about six of sparkling. At a party, 1.5 glasses per guest for the first hour, one for each hour after.
