With temperatures topping a blistering 1,200F in the open kilns there’s no chance of artisan glass blower Jonathan Abbott putting up Christmas decorations at work this year, as the cheap, plastic baubles found on most trees would have melted long before the big day arrives!Unless, of course, he adorned the boughs with the hand-blown, lead crystal baubles he is busy making to meet demand for a very stylish antithesis of today’s throwaway Christmas decorations.With each unique piece taking around 30 minutes to complete, not to mention the 24 hours needed to cool the glass balls completely, these colourful baubles are heirlooms in the making and with careful handling will still be the centrepiece of family Christmas decorations for many years to come.This year some 200 bespoke glass balls will leave his studio, based in Matlock, Derbyshire and each one retails at around £20.Jonathan, who has been hand-blowing glass for close to five years, said this year has been the busiest ever for Christmas baubles orders and he has been working flat out to meet demand.“Because each piece is unique people can be quite specific about the colours and even size they want, so it’s not like running a normal production line,” he said. “Each bauble starts life as clear molten glass, but before I blow it into shape I add coloured glass powder to the red hot lump and then sometimes a second layer of tiny coloured glass chips, which creates the swirling pattern when I rotate it.“Then it’s just a matter of keeping the glass at the right temperature or it will shatter and continually turning the piece as I blow to create the perfect spherical shape and right size before slicing the ball off the metal rod.”Finally, an additional small blob of molten glass is added to the top of the ball and stretched before it sets to create the hanging hoop before the completed piece is left to “cool’ down for a day in a 400F kiln.“It gets ridiculously hot in here at the end of the day,” said 31-year-old Jonathan “but we don't switch the main furnaces off as it would take two or three days to get them back to the right temperature.“It’s a great job in the winter, but not so good in the summer!”