A Lumera suncatcher is stained glass: sheet glass cut by hand, painted, and fired in our kiln at 1,465°F so the colour sits in the glass rather than on it. The pieces are leaded and soldered by hand, finished with a brass frame, and hung on a brass chain. There is no plastic, acrylic or vinyl in it.
Is it real glass or a print on acrylic?
It is glass, cut from sheet with a hand tool, and it weighs what glass weighs. A print on acrylic is light and flat and has a single surface; a Lumera piece has separate pieces of glass, each with its own colour, held in a web of solder you can feel with a thumb when you turn it over.
One buyer put it better than we do: she had bought a lot of things that turned out to be printed acrylic, and this one had weight and solder on the back. That is the test. If you want the full list of what goes into a piece, it is on the materials page.
- No plastic
- No acrylic
- No vinyl
- No printed film over a sheet of clear glass
Why is the glass fired in a kiln?
Firing at 1,465°F fuses the painted colour into the glass itself, so the colour is in the glass rather than painted on top of it. That is why it does not rub off on a cloth and does not fade in a sunny window.
A colour that only sits on the surface would do what any surface coating does over years of direct sun. Fired colour does not have a surface to come off. It is also why the piece can be wiped with a cloth without any thought for the finish; the care guide is short for that reason.
What holds the pieces of glass together?
The cut pieces are leaded and soldered by hand, then finished with a hand-soldered brass frame around the edge. The chain it hangs from is brass too.
The lead lines are part of the drawing, not just the joinery: when Tedooo's technology draws your photo, the first thing it draws is the lead lines, and the glass colours are chosen to sit between them. So what you approve on screen is the same web of lines we cut and solder. The frame gives the round its edge and a fixed point for the chain, which matters when you come to hang it; the hanging guide goes through where and how.
How is the colour chosen?
The portrait is drawn from your photo; the background comes from a tone you pick on the create page, or from Auto, the palette Tedooo chose for the photo. The tones on the create page run from Amber & rust to Slate & silver.
Each tone is a run of glass colours from light to dark, and the background is cut from them. The portrait keeps its own colours: a black cocker spaniel stays black, a golden retriever stays gold, whatever the background does. The tones are compared one by one in the tone guide, and you can see any of them drawn on your own photo for free on the create page before anything is cut.
Is the Christmas ornament made the same way?
Mostly. The ornament is a 10 cm bauble of thick translucent glass with a gold cap, your pet's portrait at its centre; the glass pieces are cut to the portrait, the lead lines are soldered as raised metallic lines, the face is hand-painted, and the whole thing is polished.
| Round suncatcher | Christmas ornament | |
|---|---|---|
| Glass | Sheet glass, cut by hand | Thick translucent glass, cut to the portrait |
| Colour | Painted, fired at 1,465°F | Hand-painted portrait |
| Joins | Leaded and soldered by hand | Soldered, raised metallic lead lines |
| Edge | Hand-soldered brass frame | Gold rim and gold cap |
| Hangs on | Brass chain | The cap, on a tree hook |
| Size | 15, 20 or 25 cm across | 10 cm |
If you are deciding between the two, suncatcher or ornament sets them against each other on price, size and where each one lives.
Questions this leaves
Does the colour fade in direct sun?
No. The colour is fired into the glass at 1,465°F, so there is no surface layer to fade or peel. The only thing a sunny window does to the glass is light it, which is what it is for; the brightest window you have is the right place, not the wrong one.
Why is it heavier than I expected?
Because it is glass, lead and brass, and nothing lighter. One buyer's review mentions the weight as the moment she realised it was not printed acrylic. Hang it from a fixed hook on its own brass chain and the weight is no trouble.
Is every piece signed?
Yes. Every piece is signed on the back before it is packed. A ready-made piece from the shop is made the same way as a custom one: same glass, same kiln, same frame. The only difference is whose photo it started from.
