FOR EVERYONE, EVERY DAY, FOREVER

The table federates, brings people together, invites them to be carefree. It is a haven, a landmark. Since 1945, the Duralex brand® has drawn its inspiration from the little pleasures of everyday life.

Duralex® glasses have been designed to accompany you at every moment. Like when you're sharing a meal with your family, or entertaining friends for dinner.

Our tempered glass tableware celebrates life's simple pleasures. It's an invitation to share, a vehicle for emotion, and a bridge between generations.

Our history

For over 70 years, the Duralex workshops® have been producing our famous tempered glass tableware. As it would take too long to tell you all about it, we've kept just the key dates of this beautiful history shared with you.

1927

Birth of an icon

The Duralex workshops® were founded in 1927, in La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin, near Orléans. In the early days, the factory manufactured carboys, jars and glasses for the distillery.

1930

Like a perfume of eternity

The workshops were soon bought by Parfums Coty under the name Verreries de la Chapelle Saint-Mesmin. And the gigantic furnaces transform sand into finely chiseled perfume bottles.

1934

A strong character

The Saint-Gobain group bought the factory in 1934. And it was within these walls that the industrialist invented tempered glass, a manufacturing process that gives glass a strength like no other, and which would later become the trademark of Duralex®.

1944

The zero ball

To test the strength of this new material, our researchers suspended a 1kg steel ball 1.50 metres above two glass plates. The first, made of ordinary glass, shattered. The second, made of tempered glass, held firm. This was the birth of the Duralex brand®.

1945

Foot to the floor

This new process was first used to produce lighting fixtures and automotive glass. But in 1945, we imagined a new outlet for tempered glass: everyday tableware, for everyone, forever. And then everything accelerated.

1946

"Guess how old I am?"

The® Gigogne tumbler, our first model, leaves our workshops. Universal and timeless, this cult dinnerware item soon found its way onto tables everywhere. In canteens, where schoolchildren have fun reading the number on the bottom of each glass to compare their age. But also on the tables of top restaurants.

1954

The Picardie®, of course!

New design. New model. New worldwide success. The Picardie® glass leaves our workshops and its nine facets, bevelled profile and bold lines quickly make it a staple of tableware and pop culture.

1956

The glass bowl

The Real Madrid players arrive in France to play in the European Cup at the Parc des Princes. The first thing they do when they arrive in Paris is buy Duralex crockery and glasses®.

1961

Highly colorful

Duralex® creates its first "mass tinted" glass. The minerals are incorporated directly into the liquid glass. As the glass solidifies, it captures the minerals. This way, the color retains its brilliance. Even after years.

2007

A night at the museum

Duralex® glass joins the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, for the "Éditer le design" exhibition. Subsequently, Picardie colored glasses®, as well as Gigogne bowls and salad bowls® even make their way into the store of MoMa, the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

2012

Bond, James Bond

In the film Skyfall, England's most famous spy enjoys his whisky in a Picardie glass®. Timeless and timeless, Duralex® glasses have become stars of the silver screen. They appear in films by Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen, among others.

2019

Heritage Days

Duralex® is awarded the prestigious Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant (Living Heritage Company) label, which recognizes historic French companies for their exceptional know-how, combining innovation and tradition.

2021

Deus Pyrex® Machina

The Duralex brand® joins the International Cookware group, renamed La Maison Française du Verre in 2021. A stroke of good fortune, bringing Duralex® closer to the Pyrex brand®, the other French champion of glass products... And the opportunity to expand Duralex's presence® to become a key reference, in France and internationally.

Our workshops

All Duralex® glasses are made in France, in the same factory as in 1946, in La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin. Today, the Duralex workshops® employ 250 people and produce over 350 different types of tempered glass tableware.

Our tumblers are heated, shaped and then rapidly cooled by ventilating them with cold air. It is precisely this thermal shock that gives Duralex® glass its extraordinary strength. The cups are then packed and shipped.

The most French of tumblers

All Duralex® tableware is stamped with the Origine France Garantiea certification awarded by an independent organization to attest to the French origin of a product. And 99% of the raw materials we use come from France. Trucks arrive from Fontainebleau filled with sand, limestone and alumina. Then they set off again for the four corners of the world, loaded with our famous tempered glass tumblers.

< Discover the Duralex range® >

The secret of strength

With Duralex®, your glass falls but doesn't break. And its color remains intact, even after repeated trips through the dishwasher. All thanks to a patented process we invented years ago. Discover the secret of our legendary glasses.