Artisan Owned Recycled Glass Adds a Touch of Light 

Artist snapshot: COPAVIC  (Cantel, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala).

Why we love it: The simple elegance of glass makes an unbeatable earring design. Lightweight and delicate, our teardrops sparkle on the wearer, highlighting skin, hair and eyes like only glass can. Employee-owned, COPAVIC makes gorgeous products in a sustainable, fair trade environment.

COPAVIC’s Magic: Uncompromising beauty and quality from established and respected artists shine from every piece. 

COPAVIC can be found in an unassuming concrete building near one of the last cotton factories in Guatemala. The shop is surprisingly large, with rooms tucked away around corners harboring yet another color and design. The COPAVIC showroom has designs that we had never seen before in swirly browns and seawater greens. 

 

Founded in 1976, COPAVIC is a worker-owned cooperative that pays the employee/owners a living wage. The company also provides employees with health benefits and reasonable working hours so they can care for their families. The posters on the walls of the COPAVIC showroom reflect the company’s values: fair trade, fair wages and sustainability.  

All of the glass products are made from 100% recycled glass. The factory collects the glass and stores it in mounds sorted by color. The glass is then washed before it’s melted in one of three huge ovens. The employees then make the products either using molds or by the more laborious blown glass method. The final products are carefully inspected for quality purposes before leaving the factory. If you're lucky, one of the owner/employees will give you a tour.

 

The delicate tear drops sold by IdealThread represent the unique style of COPAVIC artists. Each drop is made by hand and each one is unique. The result is a combination of art and magic we know you will love.