The plant was founded in 1764 with the highest permission of the Empress Catherine II. The founder was a retired military man and prosecutor Alexey Ivanovich Bakhmetev. He founded the future plant in his estate in the village of Nikolsko-Pestrovka of the Penza province.

From the day of foundation and up to 1884, the plant was managed by three generations of the Bakhmetevs. After the death of Alexey Ivanovich, the plant passed into the hands of his wife, and his son inherited it.

In the 18th century, the plant occupied the leading position in the Russian Empire for manufacturing glass and crystal and produced many exclusive products for the Imperial Court.

In 1789, the son of the plant founder N.A. Bakhmetev established a museum at the enterprise, where he began to collect the best of the produced items.

At the time of Pugachev uprising, the plant was plundered. Soon, by 1820, the production facilities were restored and modernized. In the Soviet time, the plant was known under the name "The Red Giant".

In 2007, the main part of the plant ceased to exist, and a small one - the experimental workshop - was sold to a private person and got the name "Bakhmetevskaya Artel". It currently produces replicas of crystal products of the 18^th-19^th centuries. A showroom of the plant is in Moscow.

Photo album dedicated to the Nikolsko-Pestovsky Bakhmetev plant anniversary is in the section PHOTO GALLERY.
The history of the plant is in the section Authors.