{
  "id": 19692470,
  "title": "Master carver to engrave crystals from last year’s New Year’s Eve ball sold as mementos",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/master-carver-to-engrave-crystals-from-last-years-new-years-eve-ball",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-11-12T19:16:54.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Winnipeg Free Press",
    "slug": "winnipeg-free-press",
    "url": "https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/2026/11/12/master-carver-to-engrave-crystals-from-last-years-new-years-eve-ball-sold-as-mementos"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On New Year's Eve, a magnificent Constellation Ball was dropped in Times Square, commissioned to commemorate the nation's 250th birthday in 2026. The ball was crafted with 5,280 Waterford crystals, each designed to represent life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These crystals, available for purchase ranging from $140 to $195, will be engraved with the purchaser's name by master carver Richard White.\n\nWhite, a seasoned expert at Waterford crystal brand, traveled to New York City to personally engrave the crystals that vary in size between 1.5 to 4 inches in diameter. The ball, a 12-foot (3.7-meter) geodesic sphere weighing 12,350 pounds (5,602 kilograms), is assembled from about a dozen new crystals each year, swapped in for the upcoming New Year's Eve festivities. Each crystal takes approximately three days to manually create, involving design, molding, kilning, and finishing processes.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "Constellation Ball dropped in Times Square for 2026 anniversary",
    "Master carver Richard White engraves names on 1.5 to 4 inch crystals",
    "Engraving process takes three days per crystal"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}