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Jim O’Leary’s most recognizable work – the Millennium Ball –
has been seen by billions since it was first lowered in Times Square at midnight
on New Year’s Eve. Even without that impressive achievement, Jim O’Leary would
be a pretty special artist. It’s his 47-year résumé that has made the
world-famous crystal, well, world famous. As Waterford’s director of design – a
position he’s held since 1989 – O’Leary has been called Waterford’s design
conscience, its crystal maestro, and its spiritual and creative leader. Every
piece of Waterford produced must earn his stamp of approval.
The job couldn’t be in better hands.
The soft-spoken, direct O’Leary is the steward of a design tradition that
reaches back to 1783, when Waterford was established by George and William
Penrose in pastoral southeastern Ireland, named for the city in which it’s
located. Working at the crystal factory was a key way to give poor kids a leg
up. It wasn’t unusual for young boys to begin their apprenticeship as young
teens, like O’Leary, one of the lucky ones to secure a cutting job when he was
15. “Local kids like me had absolutely nothing,” O’Leary imparts. “I remember
walking the mile to the factory without a topcoat in the pouring rain, paper
stuffed in my shoes so my feet wouldn’t get wet.” The now well-shod O’Leary has
come a long way indeed. “I never forget how good this company has been to its
workers and I’m forever grateful for that,” he says. “My kids are the first in
my family to go to college on the back of this wonderful company.”
If you’re fortunate to spend any time in the company of O’Leary you begin to
understand just why this roving brand ambassador (O’Leary spends at least five
months yearly on the road) is Waterford’s four-leaf clover. His attentive mien,
complete and utter creativity, and an uncanny (but cultivated) knack for making
people feel important are why his store appearances draw SRO crowds of adoring
and smitten fans, mostly of the female variety. (The twinkle in the eye and
Siren-like brogue sure add to the allure.)
As O’Leary closes in on his 50th year at Waterford – that’ll happen in 2010 and
he has every intention of being there (no doubt Waterford management and
stockholders have that intent as well) – he can’t quite fathom that he’s
Waterford’s most tenured employee. “It will be quite an honor to be the first to
make 50 years at Waterford,” O’Leary says. It has been an achievable feat ever
since O’Leary left the backbreaking rigor of production behind, a two-decade
period which the designer recalls with fondness. O’Leary’s promise was evident
from the start. A five-year apprenticeship, beginning when he was 15, culminated
in the title Master Craftsman right about the time he started setting his sights
on design.
Waterford was then under the direction of the great Czech Miroslav Havel, who
led the company as it moved into modern production processes and whose design
prowess (he created Lismore) was legendary. In 1984, O’Leary was named to
Havel’s design team where he was the ideal student. Within five years, upon
Havel’s retirement, O’Leary was tapped to spearhead the department. Over the
next two decades, O’Leary helped transform the brand. The Waterford factory is
now Ireland’s third most frequented tourist site and the brand is a global
powerhouse, arguably, the best-known crystal in the world. O’Leary, naturally,
lays no claim to the credit, insisting instead that U.S. management’s passionate
and proactive nature has turned the business around most positively. “Waterford
responds to the market’s needs and trends in a timely fashion,” avers O’Leary.
“Ever cognizant of fashion, color, and exciting new shapes, our marketing team
drives relentlessly forward. Whether with our classic collections or
contemporary offerings, Waterford is always at the forefront of new and
innovative design.”
continued . . . .
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