National Geographic & Artline Globes Manufactured by Spherical Concepts
The Beauty of Knowledge

Let's talk about the uniques Artline Globes. Along with presenting the most accurate and up to date cartographic information, each Artline Globe is truly a work of art. Highly skilled American artisans hand fashion each Artline product for lasting beauty. Each one of our globes progresses through more than forty intricate steps in order to achieve unsurpassed quality. Our state of the art technology allows us to offer a life time guarantee of quality and craftsmanship. Each of our hand crafted spheres of the heavens and earth offers a new and contemporary way to see the world, and a source of fascinating discover for years to come.

Each globe comes with a lifetime guarantee of craftsmanship and quality.

Graphics are hand silk screen printed on the interior surface so they are completely protected.

Globes are free blown using optically perfect museum grade acrylic similar to how glass is blown.

How we create our Spheres

Dedicated to the creation of world class acrylic spheres, Highly skilled American artisans hand fashion each Artline Globe for unsurpassed quality. Our state-of-the-art technology allows us to offer a life time guarantee of quality and craftsmanship.

Beginning with museum quality cast acrylic sheets, Each is cut to size, checked for optical clarity, and pre-pared for hand application of the graphics. .Each sphere design begins with specially developed, hand drawn polar azimuthal projection cartography. Once the cartographer has approved the projection, it is transferred from the original cartography to aphoto-graphic film master. This original film work is then transferred into a specialized silk-screen image. Each color applied to the sphere requires an individual silk screen. Depending on the sphere to be created, this process can require 8 to 18 separate hand operations. Each piece is then carefully inspected and passed on to the thermal process.

At this step, each piece must be heat soaked for several hours at high temperatures. Then, with the skilled eye of a highly trained craftsperson, each piece is fitted into a blowing tool which uses only air pressure to create the hemisphere. To assure optical clarity, the hemi-spheres are free-blown, similar to glass-blowing techniques. Literally, each sphere is slightly different from any other. The hemispheres are then passed to the hands of the trimmer.

Here the two hemispheres are trimmed of any excess material, then carefully matched to create a complete sphere. Next, the spheres are thoroughly cleaned and polished to remove any residue from the manufacturing process.

Then, the highly skilled globe maker makes a final fitting and bonds the two hemispheres, making a complete sphere. The globe maker then signs and dates a Certificate of Authenticity, personally certifying the quality and appearance of each sphere. Finally, the product is individually packed and prepared for shipment.

Each Artline Globe reflects a standard of excellence not achievable with today’s mass production techniques. From the multi-colored silk-screening to the meticulous blowing, shaping, and finishing, each sphere is proudly passed from the hands of our crafts-people to yours.

Our spheres are available with a pedestal base, Sculptured base, or tripod floor stand, all hand crafted of museum-quality acrylic.