A glass schnitzel with potato salad, a wax lantern with a Josef Lada illustration, or Večerníček holding a newspaper?
Our bestsellers certainly don’t look like one big family. Each of them found its way to customers in a completely different way. Some owe it to nostalgia, others to Czech tradition, and sometimes it’s simply an idea hardly anyone would expect to find on a Christmas tree.
We’ve picked four of our bestsellers to take a look at what lies behind how they came about.
The Josef Lada® collection: when Czech heritage becomes decoration
Some illustrations you recognise at first glance. The work of Josef Lada is one of them. For Czechs, his pictures are tied to the Czech countryside, winter, Christmas and, above all, memories of childhood.
That’s exactly why the Josef Lada® collection is among our bestsellers. People want to bring its iconic motifs into their own homes.
Particularly popular are the wax lanterns and candles featuring Lada’s illustrations in relief.
The characteristic raised pattern is made using a specific technique that gives the lanterns their distinctive relief. It adds another dimension to Lada’s well-known illustrations and creates a beautiful play of light and shadow, best seen in the evening once the lantern is lit.
Mistletoe & Holly: a classic with a handmade signature
Mistletoe and holly are symbols that simply belong to Christmas. Their classic festive atmosphere runs through the whole collection, which includes glass ornaments as well as other decorations.
For the glass ornaments, production begins with hand-blowing. A master glassblower shapes a glass tube into the desired form, and then it’s time for the decoration.
The delicate mistletoe and holly motifs are hand-painted, which makes their details truly precise. Each ornament is an original, and depending on how complex it is, up to six members of our creative team may work on it.
So a classic Christmas motif gets something extra: the imprint of human hands.
Czech Christmas: yes, we really do have a glass schnitzel
We wanted to create something no one could mistake for anything else. Something unexpected, a little funny and, above all, unmistakable.
And then the idea came:
Schnitzel with potato salad.
One of the most typical Czech Christmas traditions became a glass ornament that is now one of our bestsellers. Whether you love a schnitzel on the tree or it makes you shake your head a little, you can’t deny one thing: you’ll remember it.
And because Czech Christmas isn’t only about schnitzel, the Czech Christmas collection also includes a glass vánočka (the braided Czech Christmas loaf) with a bow, along with other motifs inspired by the festive table.
Večerníček: when a childhood memory makes it onto the tree
Večerníček is a Czech tradition – the bedtime programme on Czech television that we grew up with and that new generations still fall asleep to. That’s why we wanted to bring this iconic figure into the world of Christmas ornaments.
The result is the Večerníček glass ornament with a newspaper, one of our bestsellers.
The ornament is hand-painted down to the smallest detail. The fine facial features, the glittering decoration around the sleeves and the carefully highlighted paper hat make it a one-of-a-kind collector’s piece.
So Večerníček has travelled from the TV screen of our childhood straight onto the Christmas tree.
And suddenly Večerníček, whom we always associated with the end of the day, becomes something we can hang on the tree and be reminded of every year.
What do our bestsellers have in common?
At first glance, each one is completely different. And yet they share something: a story, an idea and handwork.
Whether it’s a schnitzel on the tree that makes you laugh, Večerníček that takes you back to childhood or delicate frosty drops that win you over, there’s more behind every ornament than good looks.
And that’s exactly what makes them bestsellers.
