Glass, the core business of the Saint-Gobain Group

Our origins, in the 17th century

1665 Colbert, one of Louis XIV’s ministers, created a royal Mirror Glass Factory.

1695 the Factory merged with a second company specialising in large mirrors which had been founded in 1692 on the site of the château of Saint-Gobain, in the Aisne area (France).

The beginnings of industrialisation

The new company, run by private entrepreneurs, perfected the process of casting glass on a table (invented in 1688) which marked a decisive break with traditional processes. Better still, it rapidly gave rise to glass production organized according to an industrial logic.

Its rise to success was then unstoppable. The Glass Factory’s supremacy over the French and European markets was maintained throughout the 18th century.

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