How to get up close with crystal
Baccarat extends the brand experience beyond selling crystal objects to include the moments when people use them.
The Baccarat name first brings crystal glasses and chandeliers to mind. Founded in France in 1764, Baccarat has spent centuries building its crystal-making expertise and craftsmanship. Now, it is taking a step beyond showcasing its products, presenting its distinctive aesthetic in spaces such as bars, hotels and restaurants. At Baccarat Bar Seoul on Dosan-daero, drinks are served in crystal glassware, with light, space and service coming together. Why has a brand that makes products chosen to open a bar? The answer can be found in the space itself.
Founded in France in 1764, Baccarat has introduced a wide range of crystal products, from glasses and chandeliers to decorative objects. Craftsmanship is central to the Baccarat story. Shaping, cutting and engraving crystal all draw on skills honed over many years.
The very way each piece is made reflects Baccarat’s identity. The same crystal can make a completely different impression depending on how light passes through it and how its surface is finished. For Baccarat, then, the process of making crystal is as meaningful as the finished form. Its work has also reached beyond products. Expanding from boutiques into bars, hotels and restaurants, Baccarat brings the aesthetic seen in its products—and the French art of living, or art de vivre—into a range of spaces.
Why choose a bar, among all these possible spaces? At Baccarat Bar Seoul, crystal, light and gastronomy come together. Every drink is served in Baccarat crystal glassware. Light from the chandeliers travels along the cuts in each glass; when a glass filled with a drink is set on the table, crystal becomes part of a lived experience rather than simply an object. The bartender’s service, food and music complete the scene. It is a moment to hold Baccarat crystal in your hands and enjoy it with a drink, rather than simply admire it.
That makes a bar a natural place to experience Baccarat’s aesthetic. Rather than displaying a product on its own, it creates a scene in which light, gastronomy, space and service come together. The modern art of living that Baccarat calls Art de Vivre is easy to sense here: pouring a drink into a fine glass and taking time to enjoy it in a beautiful setting. Baccarat Bar Seoul presents that everyday moment anew, in its own distinctive way.
How does Baccarat’s world view take shape in Seoul? Near Dosan Park, Baccarat Bar Seoul highlights the presence of crystal against a dark backdrop rather than simply displaying Baccarat’s signature opulence. The space is built around black, burgundy and deep brown, with subtle lighting added to the ceiling and above the bar. Chandeliers and crystal emerge from the dim surroundings, naturally bringing light and crystal into relationship. Here, the material of light that Baccarat has worked with for so long can be experienced not only through its products, but through a space.
The character of Seoul is also reflected here. Traditional Korean lacquer techniques, reinterpreted in a contemporary way by Korean artist Jeong Eun-jin, bring the rich texture of a Korean material to transparent, cool crystal. The result is a meeting, in one space, of Baccarat’s French origins and Seoul’s sensibility. Baccarat Bar Dosan is therefore somewhat different from a space that might seem to have been transplanted from Paris to Seoul. The language of crystal and light that Baccarat has upheld for so long remains, while materials and sensibilities from Seoul are newly brought into it. For those familiar with Baccarat, the space may feel welcoming; for those encountering it for the first time, it may seem a little unfamiliar. That difference is part of what invites a closer look.
For Baccarat, a crystal object may be less a finished product than a way of connecting with people. Rather than stopping at making a fine glass, the idea is to consider what it holds, the space in which it is used and the people with whom time is shared. This is the kind of way of life Baccarat seeks to show through its bars. Its bars are therefore less a new sales channel than spaces that bring the beautiful moments Baccarat believes in to life. Ultimately, what Baccarat is expanding is not the realm of its products, but the experience of crystal—from owning it to using it, and to the lifestyle surrounding those moments. Baccarat is gradually finding more ways for the beauty it creates to enter people’s everyday lives.