Upwards of $3.5 million worth of high-end custom-made crystal is slated to make its way to embassies around the world under a revised U.S. Dept. of State plan that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor (T-RAM) has discovered.
Last year Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came under fire for launching a similar fancy-glass endeavor that had come with an even higher estimated price tag: $5.4 million. The New York Post, which broke the story exactly one year ago today, revealed that the initiative had been subcontracted to a European company rather than to a domestic manufacturer such as Steuben Crystal, based in Clinton’s adopted home-state of New York. A subsequent outcry caused Clinton to temporarily suspend much of the project and to carry out a "market survey" of potential crystal designers and manufacturers.
Under the present contracting action, tens of thousands of pieces of crystal tabletop-ware such as champagne flutes, water goblets, and brandy snifters, as well as wine, martini, and beer glasses, would be acquired. Not just any crystal pieces, according to the solicitation, but only those “of the quality that is sold in high end retail department stores for fine dining, such as Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, Lux Bond & Green, Borsheims, Michael C. Fina, etc.”
State whittled down the maximum it would spend on the project by reducing the numbers of pieces per category of glassware it planned to acquire. Rather than buying batches of 2,250 gold-banded champagne flutes adorned with the State Dept. crest, for example, it is instead planning to acquire the glasses in increments of 2,000.
The document did not indicate what may be wrong, if anything, with State’s existing inventory of crystal tabletop-ware. It justified the planned acquisition by claiming that the upgrade “furthers U.S. Diplomatic interests.”
“The United States international relations, national interest and success are, in part, built upon the ability of our ambassadors to entertain host country nationals in our embassies and residences abroad,” the solicitation says.
In addition to being lead-free, the glass must be, well, perfect.
“[T]he tabletop ware shall not have any blemishes, bubbles or cloudy discolorations,” the document continues. “Etching shall be distinct and defined. The crystal tabletop ware should have a sharp high-pitched resonant sound when tapped with a metal object, such as a fork or spoon.”
Among other stated reasons for this endeavor is the purported need to develop State resources in a manner “that is cost-effective for the Government,” the document also claims.
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