What crystal maker supplied the New Year’s Eve ball lowered in Times Square from 2000 onward?

Waterford Crystal supplied the New Year’s Eve ball lowered in Times Square from 2000 onward.

The Times Square Ball is a large illuminated sphere dropped from One Times Square shortly before midnight on 31 December. Waterford Crystal became associated with the modern ball beginning in 2000, providing crystal panels for the millennium celebration and subsequent designs.

The ball’s appearance has changed over time as lighting technology, crystal facets, and patterns were updated. The current ball is a geodesic sphere covered with thousands of Waterford crystal triangles and illuminated by LEDs. Its design is intended to make the object visible across the square and on television broadcasts.

The Waterford partnership is sometimes confused with the ball’s ownership or with the event’s organizing body. Waterford provides the crystal elements; the Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment organize the celebration with city authorities and other partners. The ball-drop tradition itself began in 1907, before Waterford’s involvement.