XIXth century
In 1825, Alexandre des Lyons de Noircarme founded the Verrerie des sept écluses in Arques . The following year, on , the latter joined forces with another glassworks. The Carpentier-Mancel glassworks , founded in 1823 in Saint-Martin-au-Laërt by Charles Carpentier, under his direction. An order, on , authorized Carpentier to establish a new glass furnace there. On , the Arques glassworks was taken over by Messrs. Allard and Ladey. It was damaged by a fire in which causes the roofs to collapse. Rebuilt, the glassworks are resumed, the , by the company Ladey and Bléchet. In 1869, Alexandre des Lyons de Noircarme sold all of his shares in the glassworks. The , the Ladey and Bléchet company became the Blechet and Collette company, then, on , Bléchet and company. In , the glassworks ceased its activity. It resumed in 1893 following the creation of SA Verrerie et Cristallerie d'Arques , the . THE , it was bought by Prudent Avot during a judicial sale. Georges Durand, who worked for three years at the Sèvres crystal factory, became its director. The , he gained associate status with the creation of the company Avot Durand. The , the glassworks came under the exclusive control of Georges Durand, who founded the company G. Durand et cie.
Twentieth century
The Arques glassworks first established itself as one of the industrial jewels of the North of France before becoming, over the years, an international group, world leader in tableware. Development really began after the First World War, in 1927, when Georges Durand's second son, Jacques, joined the company.
In 1930, Jacques Durand went to the United States to study American glassworks, which were already equipped with basin furnaces and automatic machines. He decided to develop new manufacturing techniques and gradually equipped the company with new machines that would improve production while preserving glassmaking creativity. A first basin furnace was built and the first presses were installed in 1934.
After the Second World War, the Cristallerie d'Arques glassworks continued its industrial growth, driven by Jacques Durand, sole co-owner with his father in 1946. Jacques Durand took advantage of the low interest rates for loans under theMarshall Plan to complete the factory's equipment with the most recent machines designed in the United States. In 1950, the glassworks, which had equipment without equivalent in Europe, produced 15,000 tons of glass per year for a workforce of 993 people.
In 1958, the first stemmed glass, known as a balloon glass, was manufactured automatically. In 1968, the Cristallerie d'Arques glassworks brought about an industrial revolution worldwide by successfully mechanizing the production of crystal stemmed glasses. In 1980, the glassworks produced 250,000 tons of glass per year and employed 9,000 people in France, mainly in Arques.
The evolution of the company's workforce sheds light on the development experienced in the 20th century : 315 employees in 1930, 993 in 1950, 2161 in 1960, 5048 in 1970, 8857 in 1980, 11,514 in 1990.
From the 1930s until 2015, the Cristallerie d'Arques glassworks remained a local, family-owned business. From the 1980s onwards, the group began to internationalise its production with the creation in 1979 of Durand Glass Manufacturing Company (DGMC), a production subsidiary in Millville , New Jersey, and the start of production in 1982.
At the peak of its production, the company manufactured more than 1.6 billion items per year, shipped to 144 countries. It was the largest private company in Nord-Pas-de-Calais and the largest table glassware manufacturer in the world.
Jacques Durand, who was the driving force behind this expansion, died on The management of the glassworks was then taken over by his wife and one of his sons.
