The hunt for the buttons of yesteryear
100 years ago many buttons were made from natural materials, materials which nowadays are no longer used in button production as the processes required are too complex, costly, or time consuming to be viable for the mass market.
The specific button material that I was in search of was glass. The most beautiful vintage and antique buttons that I have come across have often been made from glass, and sometimes finished with hand painted details. But could I find them?!
I searched high and low across Europe for weeks, looking for something that could be produced to order in small batches. But even if just plain old glass would have sufficed… I couldn’t even find that. It was always plastic, that ‘looked like glass’. No thank you.
The discovery
Finally, I stumbled across THE glass button manufacturer: Friedrich Seibt. Based in Munich, Germany, this was an artisan set up that boasts back-catalogues dating back to when the business began producing buttons, in 1929.
In their own words...
"(The glass rods that we use)… are made by melting down silica sand, soda ash and limestone. Various colours can be achieved by adding transition-metal or rare earth element compounds.
We also work with glass rods from old stock, supplied by glassworks which no longer exist.
Our range includes around 200 standard colours, which are divided into subgroups: transparent, opaque (non-light permeable) and opal (milk glass).
The appropriate press mould, or ‘kappl’, is needed to fashion a glass bead, button or jewellery stone. We currently have around 12,000 different kappls in our workshop.
We build our own glass kilns and heat them to around 900 1100 ºC at one end with gas or oil. This heat is maintained until the glass is viscous so that it can be pressed in the mould.”
The perfect pairing
“Our craft is part of a long tradition which is still significant in jewellery production. Glass products have always been popular for their uniqueness and ability to hold their value. Not only that but a product such as a glass button is both practical and decorative, a beautiful addition to the item of clothing it fastens."