This beautiful, mouth blown, English Crystal Athena bowl has a detachable, handmade, hallmarked sterling silver base and is made in 2 sizes. The clear crystal bowl with its elegant silver base will complement not only your dining table but would display beautifully on a dresser or occasional table, creating comment and interest among your guests and friends.

It is extremely versatile and can be used in a wide number of ways. The small bowl is ideal to serve a selection of nuts and savouries or the larger one can contain a a selection of fresh fruit. For that special dinner party, use the individual crystal bowls to show off your special strawberry mousse recipe!!

A luscious fresh fruit salad will look so appealing in the crystal and silver Athena bowls, as would a selection of handmade chocolates

A perfect gift for a silver wedding or any other occasion or why not just spoil yourself? If it is for a golden wedding, then the silver bases can be gold-plated to fit the occasion.

For those interested in how we make this piece, first the crystal bowls are blown for us by Dartington Crystal in the traditional way by collecting a 'gob' of molten crystal on to the end of the blowing iron and beginning with blowing by mouth. Once a bubble has begun to form, it is placed into a carbon mould which is being sprayed with water whilst rotating. The water creates steam which forms a cushion or layer between the molten crystal and the mould, minimizing moulding marks. Occasionally the item will need a re-heat to make it malleable again. The furnace used for this is called a 'glory hole'. After completion, checking and subsequent cooling, it is placed in a 'lair' which is a furnace with a conveyor belt where the items just blown are re-heated for several hours and allowed to cool slowly. Without this re-heating process the item would be brittle and shatter on the first impact. Following this stage, the item still has the top of its bubble 'moiled' intact. This is now cut off, the edge polished and it is now complete.

The silver base is made in 2 parts employing "the spinning method". This is quite an old technique of making round, hollow objects in relatively small quantities on a lathe. Flat discs are "wrapped" around a preformed "chuck" while it is spinning, using a highly polished burnisher with a long wooden handle. This is a very highly skilled technique as the flat disc tries to buckle as it is moved off the flat. When finished, the 2 parts are lapped together (again on the lathe) to form the base unit. At this stage the article is taken to the London Assay Office to be scraped and tested. Once a positive result has been received from the laboratory confirming that the article has been made with metal at least 92.5% pure silver, the hallmarks are punched into the surface. This hallmarking process is one of the world's oldest and most secure forms of consumer protection.

Upon return to the silversmith's workshop, the silver base is polished using 4 grades of compound and finally fitted onto the crystal bowl. Lastly, the bowl is packed into the well-known JA Campbell luxury presentation boxes.

To mark any special occasion there is plenty of room to engrave a message of your choice on either the crystal bowl or the silver base. This feature makes them an ideal silver corporate gift. Having a silver base ensures this item will always have an intrinsic value and can therefore be passed down to future generations. If by any chance the crystal bowl is damaged, JA Campbell offer a replacement crystal service. All our products are made up to a standard, not down to a price

As with most things in life, your silver will need occasional cleaning. This does not need to be a chore and can be quite therapeutic. It may need as little as a quick wash up, a 'buff up' to remove light tarnish and then the occasional polish using silver cleaner such as Silvo.