We are ecstatic; we found an inexpensive source of the French classic tempered glass Duralex tumblers in their original pattern: the Picardie.
First, some background.
Duralex is a French company that has been making these glass tumblers for a long time. They are the iconic glass of French cafés and bistros, and they have been used for years in school cafeterias in France. You can read more about their French connotations at Chocolate & Zucchini.
They are made of tempered glass and so they are very difficult to break. They are also good for both hot and cold drinks; the smallest ones are perfect for an espresso with a dollop of steamed milk; the medium sizes are just right for a cocktail or bedtime glass of water; and the largest size hold an entire can of soda water. They have a vintage charm but a practical durability. We love them.
The problem? The Duralex company went into bankruptcy this spring. All the usual sources - Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, and this importer, Le-Tom, stopped carrying them. They seemed only available through restaurant distributors in Australia - none of whom would return our hopeful emails.
How sad! Just when we were getting ready to order enough to stock our cupboards for the next ten years. We even checked eBay, but sets of six Picardie glasses were going for over $50! No thanks - part of the charm of these glasses is their economy.
And then we came across these Picardie tumblers at the World Market website. Hmm... they don't say Duralex, but we needed glasses and decided to compromise and buy what we assumed was a knockoff. Would they be as strong and as classic as the original Duralex Picardie? Probably not, but oh well.
Well, imagine our delight when we received our big box of carefully wrapped glasses and tore into them to discover a tiny "Duralex" stamp on the bottom of each! Hurray! These are the real deal, and priced very reasonably too. We say get them while you can; we are not sure if they are still in production. Duralex may switch the pattern over to their new, not-as-classic, stacking glasses.
• Buy Duralex Picardie Glasses at World Market. Prices range from $5.96 for a set of 4 7.75 ounce glasses, to $13.96 for a set of 17.75 oz.
Edited To Add:
Also see the Picardie tumblers at Design Within Reach; they are available there, at least for now. It looks like they aren't available to ship until early May, however.
• Small Picardie Tumblers, 6 for $21.25
• Large Picardie Tumblers, 6 for $21.25
Also see our sister home sites waxing rhapsodic about these glasses here:
• Best Products: Duralex Picardie Glasses at AT:SF
• Duralex Glasses at AT: New York
• Top 10 Glasses at AT:SF
(Images: Faith Hopler and World Market)
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Elizabeth Apron fro...
100 DIY Ideas for the 3-Day Weekend
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
We had those when I was a kid - for years I misread the 'Duralex' at the bottom of the glass as 'Our Alex', and I always wondered who Alex was.
I'm not sure I'd call them "very difficult to break." I got a set of 32 glasses about 4 years ago, and have broken at least 5 glasses since then. I'm definitely going to replace the broken ones at World Market (thanks for the tip!), but I think calling them simply "difficult" rather than "very difficult" to break would be more accurate.
I'm not saying it's a dead ringer, but Ikea makes a decent look-alike that is 69 cents a glass.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80081733
Not quite as pretty, but it's relatively durable (I know from experience and have dropped several of them) and cheap. It also handles hot liquids.
Wonderful! I have one lone little Picardie glass found at a thrift store and I love it so much, and I was always sad I could no longer purchase these at Williams Sonoma. Now it'll be lonely no more!
Wow, I didn't realize you couldn't find these anymore. About 6 years ago my mom bought two sets each of the large and medium sized glasses. They were my first glass in my very first kitchen. Sadly they're in storage back home. I might have my mom ship these out to me. I think she got them at Restoration Hardware.
I am so sad to hear that news. Unfortunately World Market does not extend the World to shipping in Canada. Bormioli Rocco used the Duralex tempered glasses technology. They produce a stackable similar version. But I prefer the curves of the Picardie Bistro design.
After reading this post earlier today and thinking, "Wow, I've got to stop by the World Market sometime and get a few of these," (note that I already have a set of very nice simple glasses, of course now I've got these to lust after...oh, for a bigger apartment) I stopped by Goodwill on the way home looking for something completely different.
And sitting on the top shelf in the glassware section were 3 Picardie glasses -- the little ones, with the very distinct "Duralex" logo on the bottom -- for a quarter each.
Guess it was my lucky day =D
Omigod I bought out the last of these at the Crate and Barrel outlet when I heard they were going out of business, this is great! We break pint glasses like once a month but in almost 30 years I have never broken a Picardie glass! Thanks SO MUCH!
Thank you for this post!!! These glasses ARE difficult to break, but not impossible. I've had these glasses in all four sizes for almost 6 years and broke one (the first) last autumn while I was preggers. Scratch that - pregnant AND clumsy. I thought I'd have to scrounge eBay or thrift shops over the years to replace the broken glass... phew. Thank you, World Market.
Here is a Google translation of a web page from LIBERATION.FR »
Saturday, April 26, 2008
The Duralex glasses placed into liquidation
The company, which produces a shock-resistant glass found in canteens, presents a liability estimated at 22 million euros and employs 240 people.
Duralex International France, which has long fueled canteens and French communities in glasses, plates, bowls and others, was yesterday placed under court receivership with further activity by the Commercial Court of Orleans.
"The information gathered indicates that the company is unable to meet its liabilities and is in a state of insolvency. It is therefore necessary to initiate liquidation with further activity until 25 July," said court. The court will meet again on June 3 to review any proposals made repeatedly by then. Duralex, which employs 240 people in La Chapelle Saint-Mesmin (Loiret), had declared on 1 April in suspension of payments due to a significant debt. The glass has a liability estimated at 22 million euros over a third composed of receivables due immediately.
The court had then given three weeks to its owner Turkish, Sinan Solmaz, to provide 5 million euros of fresh money. The latter no longer president of the company but remains a shareholder and customer, is not reached. At the hearing, he requested a new deadline of 15 days and indicated that a U.S. company was ready to inject money. The court denied that request. The aircraft returned to Turkey without waiting for the deliberation of the court.
The company, in the future fragile since its placement in receivership in June 2005 is now managed by a particular administrator charged with finding a buyer. A year ago, the company had narrowly escaped the liquidation, Sinan Solmaz bringing in extremis new financial guarantees. For Pascal Colichet, CGT delegate: "This decision was awaited. The company is mismanaged. Mr. Solmaz, our largest customer, buys for his company tonne glass 700 euros instead of 1,200 euros, the market price. We therefore a lack of cash." "Duralex is a viable business with a production tool that works, a world-renowned, a significant productivity and know-how. We will fight to keep it," said trade unionist. It now exports most of its production.
The works council has appointed a cabinet of experts to seek a buyer or a viable partner. Sinan Solmaz, who owns several companies trading items of tableware in Turkey, has injected more than ten million euros in the company since its resumption in December 2005, as part of a plan for continuation. The plan, accepted in late December, had allowed the continuation of production in two plants in La Chapelle Saint-Mesmin and Rive-de-Gier (Loire). But in July 2007, the plant Rive-de-Gier which employed 103 people, was closed for reasons of "economy" at the request of new owner. The Duralex glass, transparent and resistant to shocks, was created in 1939 by Saint-Gobain.
Here is a Google translation of a web page from FRANCE INFO »
Friday, April 25, 2008
Duralex placed into liquidation
The company still has until July 25 to continue its activity. The commercial court will meet to take stock in early June.
Duralex - the name has gone through periods. Synonym for many of us, school canteen. The Duralex glass, transparent and resistant to shocks, was created in 1939 by Saint-Gobain. It has long been equipped communities...
Duralex today employs 240 people in La Chapelle Saint-Mesmin, near Orleans. But the glasses are no longer recipe: the company has declared a cessation of payments on 1 April this year - because of a significant debt. His liability is estimated at 22 million euros.
The Commercial Court of Orleans had given three weeks to its owner, a Turk named Sinan Solmaz, to provide 5 million of new money. This is not reached. The court therefore today Duralex placed in judicial liquidation, with activity continuing until July 25. It will meet again on June 3, to review any proposed takeover.
Comment by Patrick Taylor, Le Tom Ltd
Please note that the above is translated from French web pages whose accuracy I have no means of verifying. I have no direct dealings with Duralex. My supplies of stock were obtained from a UK importer, who ceased to import Duralex products at the beginning of 2008.
Unless Duralex is once again able to supply its products to a UK importer who can make them available to me at wholesale prices, I regret that I can no longer offer Duralex glasses and bowls for sale.
April 28th, 2008.
I juste bought this Danish Design carafe last week, I don't know if its available in the US and Canada, but it's designed by Royal VKB of Denmark, based on the real Duralex glasses.
http://www.absolumentdesign.com/images/produits/French-Carafe-400.png
French Carafe by Kaptein Roodnat
The Royal VKB site
http://www.royalvkb.com/
How does one buy these exactly? There's no "add to cart" only "limited quantities available" (or something like that).
We just checked with World Market's public relations team, and they said that the glasses will be available online again soon.
Also, they are available in-store.
Since World Market doesn't ship to Canada, does anyone know if there are other economical options?
I have these...they are comfort glasses...homey.
I hope they get them back in stock soon. Ten years ago after my roommate systematically smashed all my cheap IKEA glasses, I bought a set of six of the largest Picardie glasses. Ten years later, roommate gone, now married, I still have all six glasses without even a chip. I want to replace our smaller, cheaper glasses with smaller Picardie ones, especially as we're having a child soon and I like the idea of having hard-to-break glassware when she gets old enough to use them.
I have these and bought them from world market about 6 months ago. They are great! They look great with our classic white dishes from there also. I use the smallest size for our little girls. They have yet to break one.
world market appears sold out. I wish I had seen this posting a week ago so I could replenish my stock. If you drop a picardie on a slate floor from countertop height, it will indeed break-- so I've been looking for replacements. Hopefully they'll re-start the business. After the mandatory summer factory vacation, of course-- gee, I wonder why Duralex, selling a super successful product, went bankrupt...
Thanks for the World Market info. I went to the local one yesterday and bought a bunch of glasses for future needs. I've loved the Picardie glasses since I was a kid.
I just received my order a few days ago (I guess I was lucky to get my online order in just in time), and I am very pleased. I ordered an assortment of sizes, doubling up on the smallest 7oz size.
I was surprised to find that with the exception of the large 17oz size, all of my tumblers do not have the round Duralex "seal" on the bottom. They just have "made in France" and copywrite Duralex in an arc around the edge. Worried that I maybe now own some kind of counterfeit glass I discovered this from the handy Ebay guide to Duralex:
"This new-owner generation of glasses says "DURALEX" and "MADE IN FRANCE" in arcs across the 12 and 6 o'clock positions on the glass bottom. The design logo in the bottom center with a number is absent but the quality and strength are the same."
So now I can sleep at night knowing my new glasses have the same old good bones. It's just interesting that some of the glasses from Homegoods seem to be among the remaining "old" stock, mixed in with the new.
fear not kitchn readers!
the store i work at in williamsburg brooklyn sells those duralex glasses! we sell them individually as well as in sets of four with the matching carafe (the glasses nest inside one another inside the neck of the bottle so you can carry the carafe and stacked glasses all with one hand!)
we also sell a couple of great water/wine glasses from bormioli. my favorites are the double old-fashioned and the mini bodega glasses (which are also great for nuts and snacks.)
the duralex glasses aren't listed on our webstore yet, but you can still order them over the phone anyway (or just swing by the store if yr in the hood!)
check out the other glasses:
http://www.thebrooklynkitchen.com/web-store/barware-and-party-supplies/?q=bormioli
AWESOME NEWS!
Duralex Picardie is either now available in the US or will be shortly. While I don't know which stores will offer them, there is a website for Duralex USA http://www.duralexusa.com and an article mentioning their impending arrival in the US http://www.gourmetretailer.com/gourmetretailer/content_display/news/e3ia63351ea832b17bf3cb7f962e598c688
FYI - I was prompted to search for these again after finding that they are currently available in Pier I stores - in store, not online. I quickly picked up some since I'd been searching for replacements for over a year.
I also found the elusive Duralex decanter with glasses at thebroklynkitchen.com. They were super helpful and extremely quick in emailing about them! Thanks guys.
http://www.thebrooklynkitchen.com/web-store/staff-picks/tableware/barware-and-party-supplies/lila39s-picks/wine-accessories/serveware/pitchers-and-jugs/wine-decanters-and-carafes/passover/carafes/21-50/1285-french-carafe-w-4-glasses/