TROPHY TIMES: THE LACHMAN BLOG

Creating A Custom Crystal Award: How We Craft Custom Crystal

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Custom crystal awards are one of the most elegant and highly prized mementos that an organization can create.  Lachman is one of the few companies in the world that has the skill and experience to create premier awards, uniquely sculpted of crystal.

Our crystal awards are handcrafted. Each piece painstakingly polished to our exacting standards to assure excellent light refraction and incredible beauty.  To show you how it's done, we share the story of the 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible which graces our website page that describes our custom crystal awards.

A bit of history: The first Cranbrook Concours d’Elegance was held on the stately grounds of the Cranbrook Educational Community in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 2003.  

The Buick Motor Division of General Motors was title sponsor for the Concours and Bob Lutz, GM North America chairman and vice chairman of product development, served as honorary Concours chairman and chief judge.

Cranbrook was the perfect venue for an event of this type. “Cranbrook is one of the most significant and historic art and educational communities in the country. Its 315 acres of rolling lawns, gardens and elegant trees are interspersed with sculptures by renowned artists from all over the world.”, states Carrie Lachman, President, and 3rd Generation owner of Lachman Awards.  A stunning array of more than 200 motorcars graced the grounds for the event, and among them was a 1937 Talbot Lago 150-C that took Best of Show and a 1936 Stout Scarab. Both vehicles were invited to Paris for the Louis Vuitton Classic (one of the most prestigious Concours in the world), after appearing at Cranbrook.

The official poster of the 2003 Cranbrook Concours d’Elegance featured the 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible which was owned by a local collector.

We designed our crystal Buick from this model for the first Cranbrook Concours d’Elegance held in the summer of 2003.

Notes on our custom crystal awards:

Carrie Lachman shares, "We start with our customer’s ideas and designs for the custom crystal piece.  Of course, budget and quantity are always a concern.  Projects like these make the most sense when a customer has need for a quantity of about 24 pieces or more in order to keep the costs down, but smaller quantities can be produced.  We start with our customer’s drawings or sketches if they have any, and provide finished drawings for approval to the customer.  From there we can either produce the piece, or produce a pre-production sample for approval."

The crystal car, a replica of the 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible  is a crystal sculpture that was handcrafted from several pieces of highest quality optical crystal.  This is crystal which is extremely clear and free from bubbles, imperfections or inclusions.  Each finished piece is completely unique. due to the fact that they are individually handcrafted.   Custom pieces may utilize a logo or customer drawings in which case, the piece is exclusive.  The crystal award sculptures can be sandblasted or laser etched and may include logos or text.

Prices are based on size, quantity and complexity of design and could range from several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.  All of Lachman's custom crystal award sculpture pieces are carefully nestled in their own custom fitted box. Each box is shaped with foam inserts made to fit the piece.  

Production time for a unique, handcrafted crystal sculpture, from concept to delivery is generally about 8-12 weeks.

Lachman is proud to be among the select few award companies who offer premier, handcrafted crystal and other award products.  Quality, craftmanship and overall satisfaction are Lachman's creedo in providing unique, world-class awards and trophies.

Sandblasting or Laser Etching: Which Is Best For Awards And Plaques?

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Awards and plaques and trophies are often an ordeal to order because most clients don't order these often, and there are so many options, it's not easy to make the decision.  One of the most frequently asked question we hear is: "What's the best way to engrave or etch an award?"  

Not all processes will yield the same result, and after the order is completed, it's often too late to go back and start over. Much of this discussion by the various award or plaque companies is predicated by what equipment they own.  Lachman Awards is proud to offer both laser and sandblasting. 

The less expensive is the laser engraver.  Although the output on  a lucite plaque or glass award is clean and precise, it's not as deep as sandblasting.  Small letters, less than 14 pts, generally require laser as the preferred method of engraving.  On crystal or glass or lucite, laser results are a pretty, three dimensional appearance. Especially on the colored items, etching can be very impressive and quite attractive.

Sandblasting is generally a more expensive option, and is not offered by smaller award or plaque shops.  To offer sand blasting and do it well is dependent upon the investment in equipment that the Awards company makes.  Sand blasting results are impressive; the depth of the blast is deeper and more noticeable than laser with a richer, and much more dimensional presentation.

Unique awards and trophies are what we do at Lachman. Ask us for ideas.  Custom designed awards and memorable trophies are our specialty. 

EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION - PLUS 10 WAYS TO EMPOWER AND MOTIVATE YOUR EMPLOYEES

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  In these difficult times, businesses often focus on the "hard" assets of the company such as inventory, cash, equipment, tools and machinery.  The "soft" assets, employees, are generally overlooked.

   The old saying "people do business with people" still rings true today.  Therefore, it is critical to invest in keeping your most valuable "soft assets" from walking out the door.  Employee recognition with individual awards and perpetual plaques is an excellent way to empower employees and reward them for their performance.  Programs often run monthly or quarterly in addition to annual awards for top performers.  This is a great way to keep morale high within the company, increasing employee satisfaction and loyalty - thereby increasing your business revenue and profit.

Here are 9 additional ways to empower and motivate your employees:

1. Use clear, concise and consistent communication.
2. Get to know your employees and create a team.
3. Train, educate and mentor.
4. Empower employees by assigning new responsibility, push appropriate decision making and allow people to make the call.
5. Provide regular, honest feedback.
6. Show respect  

INCREASE YOUR DONATIONS WITH DONOR RECOGNITION WALLS

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Donor Walls are Recognition Programs used by Universities, Corporate Headquarters, Churches, Synagogues, Hospitals, Charitable Organizations, Clubs and other institutions to acknowledge ongoing contributors, board of directors and important members.  Lachman and Company can custom design and fabricate these donor walls to not only show appreciation but also to enhance the architecture and decor of a building.  They are generally prominently displayed to recognize current donors, but also to encourage new donors to participate.  This is a great way to make your funding and donations grow.

Lachman and Company has been designing and fabricating donor walls and perpetual plaques out of a variety of materials including special woods, glass, marble, metal or a combination of all of these materials.  We also produce bronze and brass donor tree plaques leaving room for growth with the addition of panels for future contributions.  All of the engraving typestyles and sizes are kept on record at our facility in order to ensure consistent engraving styles from year to year as names are added.

Please contact us if you have a need for a donor recognition wall or a perpetual plaque.  We can assist you in designing a very custom plaque within your budget, which is specifically custom made for your company or organization. 

DESIGNATE A LANDMARK WITH CAST BRONZE PLAQUES

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Cast bronze and cast aluminum plaques can give any building, structure or place with special character a timeless landmark for preservation.  Lachman and Company produces all types of outdoor signage in cast bronze and cast aluminum with different border styles, letter styles, images, finishes and more.  Corporate logos and photographs can be added to memorialize or honor a person or an event.  Cast bronze and aluminum signage can be used for:

Each plaque produced is custom designed to your specifications.
In addition, we produce cast bronze donor tree plaques in traditional and contemporary designs with several options for future growth of a recognition program.
Please contact us at lachman@4-awards or call us at (248) 948-9944 to inquire about details.