By 1850 Saunders had left and George Gatchell was beginning to despair about the future. In a letter to a relative he wrote, “must now either get a partner with adequate capital, sell or stop work finally”. He also referred to the company losing money, and as a final gesture, George sent a magnificent Waterford entry to the Great Exhibition of 1851, in the aptly named Crystal Palace in London.

In a letter to his cousin Jonathan in 1851 the excessive taxation and lack of capital had taken its toll on the business, as he had written “I may mention that I have quite concluded on giving up the business as soon as I possibly can”. During its relatively short life of sixty - eight years, Waterford Glass prospered and enjoyed an unequalled reputation that has transcended the intervening centuries.