Waterford is proud of its work alongside the Amgen Irish Open, part of the DP World Tour. For over 40 years, Waterford has been manufacturing trophies, and the long-standing relationship between the legendary sporting event and the iconic Irish designers continues to grow from strength to strength.
The latest iteration of the renowned trophy, launched in 2022, was designed by Waterford’s Senior Product Designer, Matt Kehoe, who sought to represent how golfers progress throughout their careers. The intricate cuts surrounding the piece build towards both their own and the trophy’s peak. Since its launch, this trophy has been awarded at some of the most prestigious courses around the island – Mount Juliet in Kilkenny, The K Club in Kildare, and the Royal County Down in Northern Ireland – to some of the greatest golfers in the world. This year’s Waterford-designed trophy for The Amgen Irish Open was awarded at The K Club to Rory McIlroy
When it comes to the creation of these masterpieces, every trophy begins its life in the factory in Waterford, Ireland, where our designers start by sketching a concept. That journey then continues in the blowing room, where the molten crystal – heated to over 1,400°C – is mouth-blown by master craftspeople into wooden moulds. Once successfully shaped, the crystal then passes through six rigorous inspection stages, where any discovered imperfection will return the piece to the furnace and back into the molten mix.
The next step is hand marking: a temporary geometric grid which guides the cutters, who commit the intricate patterns to memory over an eight-year apprenticeship. Using diamond-tipped wheels, these masters proceed to carve precise facets, relying solely on feel, as well as decades of experience, to judge wheel pressure and depth of each cut.
And then, finally, the engravers use copper wheels to add intricate details to the trophy’s surface. Each piece is then polished to a radiant brilliance before passing through a final quality check.
If you are a fan of sport or a lover of both historic and cutting-edge design, then you can visit Waterford’s factory at House of Waterford, right in the centre of Waterford City. Located at the centre of the city’s Viking Triangle, surrounded by a bevy of unique and awe-inspiring museums, a trip to House of Waterford allows you the opportunity to experience what it is like behind the scenes of one of the most well-known crystal brands in the world, get up close with some incredible pieces, as well as hear from the craftspeople who bring each piece to life.