On 1 May 1873, Hugo switched production on one of the furnaces to decorated hollow glass as the demand for glass jewellery was declining while the demand for decorated glass was increasing internationally. Josef had never decorated his glassware in his factories himself before, choosing to concentrate on the base products, including hollow glass, which he would send to be decorated elsewhere – or simply let his customers do it. From that moment on, in 1873, Riedel began to produce luxury glass items. This initial move into glass decoration was not without difficulties but success came relatively quickly.