Discover Our Marking Methods: Engraving & Cosmo Printing

Sandblasting Engraving is an artistic marking process that uses a pressurized stream of air and sand to carve directly into solid crystal. The result is a crisp, elegant, and finely textured engraving that looks as if it was placed magically! People are fascinated by the look and feel of sandblasting, especially when they see their name engraved in the crystal, and many consider sandblast engraved crystal as the gold standard of recognition awards.

The process of sandblasting begins with the creation of a finely detailed mask (made from your approved artwork) that exposes the specific areas of artwork to be engraved, while also safeguarding the surrounding crystal. These handmade masks are manually applied to each award, requiring precise centering and alignment by sight. Once the crystal awards are properly masked and prepared, our skilled artisans begin sandblasting, meticulously engraving each piece by hand to ensure that all text and artwork are elegantly and permanently etched into the crystal.

If you’re looking to host a glamorous or high profile event, engraved crystal awards can help elevate your occasion. The sparkle and brilliance of engraved crystal awards definitely generates excitement!

Sandblast engraving is perfectly suited for marking crystal trophies and award plaques. The sparkle, elegance, and immutable look of engraved crystal conveys a sense of permanence, importance, and high perceived value, which is why many people consider engraved crystal trophies as the gold standard of recognition awards.

Sandblast engraving also creates depth and relief as it can range from a light surface frosting to a deep carving in the crystal. The texture of engraved crystal not only makes the awards more interesting to look at, but the tactile feel also makes the message and artwork feel more important than something printed.

Sandblasting is a manual process that relies heavily on the skill of the artisan. Anyone can learn the basics of sandblasting in a few days, but mastering it is a skill that takes years, and the quality of the crystal engraving is a reflection of that skill and experience.

Sandblast engraving on crystal is black and white artwork only; no colors are possible, though we can offer spot color fills of gold, silver or black.

Colour Fill Options for Sandblast Engraving:

Sandblast engraving is not recommended for wood trophies because the markings can look very different from piece to piece, due to the organic qualities of the wood. Similarly, we don’t recommend sandblasting on metal either because it’s difficult to achieve any depth in the marking, so it often looks faded or unclear.

Eclipse Awards is considered a premier supplier of sandblasted crystal awards, though there are others that also offer sandblasting service. When looking at the quality of sandblasting on crystal, here are some things to look out for:

What makes us good at sandblast engraving?

We’ve been sandblasting crystal awards since we opened in 1998, so we have over 25 years of experience creating beautiful engravings on crystal! We are unique because we produce all of our sandblast masks and do all of our sandblast engraving in-house, so we have full control over quality and lead time.

Our designers and artisans know how to make engraved crystal awards and trophies look great, and we take pride in everything we make. If something isn’t up to our standards, we will redo and remake it until it is. And if somehow you’re not pleased with the quality of the engraving, let us know and we’ll make it right.

The art of sandblast engraving is a dying skill, but it’s alive and flourishing at Eclipse Awards. So if you want impressive crystal awards and trophies with beautiful sandblast engraving, choose Eclipse Awards.

Regular laser engraving uses a highly focused beam of light (a laser) to burn or vaporize material. The result is a dark, precise, highly detailed and permanent surface marking. For solar laser engraving we’ve taken it a step further by powering our laser engraver with rooftop solar panels, which means anything you order with solar laser engraving is marked with clean power, directly from the sun! Solar laser engraving is a great eco-friendly marking option, it adds a layer of meaning to the awards as people love knowing their awards are infused with clean solar energy!

If you’re looking for earth friendly awards, then wooden trophies and awards with solar laser engraving are a beautiful combination that’s hard to beat! Wooden awards with solar laser engraving have a natural and authentic look and feel that many people prefer.

Solar laser engraving looks best and most impressive on wooden awards and trophies. The dark lasered marking contrasts nicely with the colour and grain of most woods, plus it provides the subtle smell of a warm campfire. As well, solar laser engraving is a permanent marking that provides some depth and relief to the artwork, which makes each wooden award plaque more interesting to touch and look at.

Solar Laser Engraving Considerations

Solar laser engraving is not recommended for crystal or glass because it doesn’t create a clear marking. Crystal diffuses the laser, so it’s not really able to burn or vaporize any material, which means the effect is weak and blurry.

Eclipse Awards is the only trophy company providing solar laser engraving. We were the first to offer it in 2019 when we installed our rooftop solar panel system and connected it to power our laser engraver. Over the course of a year, our solar panels generate enough clean energy to power our laser engraver and a few other machines, which helps reduce the environmental footprint of everything we produce.

As well, our experienced team of designers and operators understands laser engraving, wood grain, and how to make wooden trophies look awesome. If you want next level, sustainable trophies with solar laser engraving, you’ll only find them at Eclipse Awards!

Cosmo Print is a marking process that prints full color artwork directly onto the surface(s) of an award. The printed artwork is instantly cured by UV light to secure it in place, creating a high definition, vibrant and colorful surface marking.

Cosmo Print is durable, though it is considered a semi-permanent marking, which means it will last for years with normal handling, but it can be affected if scratched with a hard object.

Cosmo Printing is best when you want to include color graphics or photos on your awards. While engraving is a colorless process, Cosmo Print allows for a full spectrum of vibrant colors that can really make your awards stand out!

Consider awards and trophies with Cosmo Print when you have strong branding or logo guidelines that require color. Note: while we do our best to match your colors, we do not guarantee any color matches.

Cosmo Print shows up really well in photographs, moreso on wooden awards and trophies, but also on crystal. If you’re planning to do a lot of social media at your awards event, you’ll want to choose awards that photograph easily and well. 

If you need a larger quantity of awards, or awards delivered quickly, Cosmoprinted pieces can sometimes be produced faster than sandblast or laser engraved pieces. 

What makes us good at Cosmo Printing?

We do all Cosmo Color UV Printing in house so that we can control the quality and lead times. We have a state of the art Mimaki UJF6042MKII Flatbed UV Printer that prints directly onto crystal, wood and metal. Our printer settings are geared towards quality rather than speed, and we add an extra layer of white to help the colors stand out even more. 

Plus, our Mimaki ink is GREENGUARD Certified, which ensures it has met some of the world’s most rigorous and comprehensive standards for low emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into indoor air, and is acceptable for use in environments such as schools and healthcare facilities.

If you’re looking for colorful wooden or crystal awards, we can help!