What is the name of New York City's New Year's Eve ball's current crystal manufacturer?

The current crystal manufacturer of New York City's New Year's Eve ball is Waterford Crystal. The Irish company has supplied crystal panels for the Times Square Ball since 2000, helping create the faceted surface associated with its modern designs.

The ball has changed substantially since the first 1907 version. Early balls used iron, wood, and electric bulbs, while later versions incorporated aluminum and other materials. The present design uses Waterford Crystal triangles mounted on a geodesic sphere and illuminated by computer-controlled LEDs.

Waterford's panels are replaced or added as the ball receives annual themed designs. The ball displayed in Times Square is much larger and more technologically complex than the original, but its basic role is unchanged: it descends during the final minute before midnight on December 31. The phrase “ball drop” refers to the descent, not to the ball falling freely.