The illuminated Ball at New York City's Times Square New Year's Eve celebration is covered with Waterford crystal panels.
Waterford has supplied crystal panels for the Times Square Ball since 2000, creating an annual design built around a changing theme. The crystal is fitted onto a geodesic sphere whose lights create the celebrated visual effect during the descent shortly before midnight.
The Ball is often casually called a “crystal ball,” but it is a large illuminated time ball rather than a fortune-telling object. Its modern versions have changed in size, lighting, and energy efficiency over the years. The event itself began in 1907, when an illuminated ball was lowered from the former headquarters of The New York Times. The crystal supplier is Waterford, an Irish brand, not Swarovski or another decorative-glass maker.