The New Year's Eve ball at One Times Square is covered with 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles.
The triangles form the faceted surface of the modern Times Square Ball, which is assembled for the annual countdown in New York City. Waterford Crystal has supplied the ball's crystal panels since 2000, when the design was significantly enlarged for the millennium celebration. The panels are arranged in a geometric pattern over a metal framework and illuminated from within.
The current ball is 12 feet, or 3.7 meters, in diameter and weighs nearly six tons. Its lighting system uses thousands of LEDs capable of producing many colors and patterns. The precise appearance and panel designs can change when new annual motifs are introduced, but the 2,688-triangle figure describes the standard crystal covering widely associated with the present ball.
This crystal ball is separate from the original 1907 ball, which was much smaller and used electric light bulbs rather than Waterford panels.