An Exclusive Sneak Peek at This Year's Waterford Crystal New Year's Eve Ball Design

Are you ready to count down to 2016?

By Jenna Blaha

Dec 7, 2015

Glass, Majorelle blue, Electric blue, Symmetry, Triangle, Transparent material,

New Year's Eve is a time for resolution making, champagne popping, and of course, one huge crystal ball dropping. With an estimated *million* people expected to cram into Times Square and another *billion* tuning in worldwide, the ball drop is quite the spectacle—so I headed to the top of 1 Times Square (400 feet—in heels!) to get a sneak peek at just what the 2016 Waterford Crystal New Year's Eve crystals will look like. And it didn't disappoint. (Good thing, because did I mention I was wearing heels?)

World, Sphere, Iron, Symmetry, Circle, Ornament, Steel, Tower block,

That's one *fancy* night-light.

I joined Tom Brennan, second generation master artisan and spokesperson for Waterford Crystal at the tippy-top of the busiest place in NYC to get the very first glimpse of one of the 288 new crystals being installed on this year's ball. The theme? "The Gift of Wonder."

Brennan and I talk about the ball. It's huge, FWIW.

And the theme definitely works—an 11,875 pound ball covered in 2,688 Waterford crystal triangles and illuminated by 32,256 Phillips LEDs? That's quite a disco ball—and definitely a certifiable wonder. And amazingly enough, we'll be back on December 27th to help install the "Gift of Wonder" crystals. So stay tuned for more. Until then, the countdown is on.