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<\/p>\nA fiery temperament. That’s how Val\u00e9rie de Roquemaurel comes across. You can hear it in her voice, and recognize it in her often sandblasted and colored glass creations. Her work is both fragile and powerfully expressive. In her hands, once the glass has been heated, this transparent, malleable material is transformed. It seems to dance in hypnotic motion. This ability to metamorphose and take shape when the magic of fire works is what seduced Val\u00e9rie. In 2004, I did an internship with a glassblower,” she recalls. It was a revelation! I followed that up with two years at a school to learn the trade.” It’s a very physical job, which she now practises in her workshop in Pomy, with a sure, seasoned touch. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At arm’s length<\/strong> The year Val\u00e9rie fell in love with the business after an internship that lasted 8 months instead of three weeks.<\/p>\n Temperature in degrees Celsius of the main furnace in which the glass pebbles are remelted<\/p>\n The number of hours required to fill the main furnace with glass pebbles<\/p>\n The ideal temperature in degrees Celcius for working glass<\/p>\n The diameter in centimetres of its largest chandelier piece<\/p>\n
\nMaking glass takes time, precision and strength. “People often imagine that it takes a lot of breath to work with glass,” explains Val\u00e9rie. In fact, you need arms to lift the blowing rod and turn it with the weight of the glass at the end. And then, you have to imagine that it’s very hot in the workshop with three furnaces on continuously.” The first furnace, at 1,140 degrees, is where the work begins, housing up to 120 kilos of molten glass. Val\u00e9rie draws in the glass with a blowing rod and, when its temperature reaches 900 degrees, gradually shapes it into the desired form by turning the rod while a second person blows. “The glass cools very quickly, so it has to be reheated regularly in another furnace fired to 1,350![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lionel-meylan.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/souffleuse_verre_valerie_de_roquemaurel_3_l_eloge_horlogerie_joaillerie_lionel_meylan_vevey..jpg\")
<\/p>\nIN FIGURES<\/h3>\n
2004<\/h3>\n
1’140<\/h3>\n
15<\/h3>\n
900<\/h3>\n
50<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nLEXICON<\/h3>\n