Even though the description said it stood almost 18 inches high, I was unprepared for its size. It's huge!
It shipped well protected; custom Styrofoam packaging from the manufacturer which was then shipped in a larger box with plenty of peanuts.
Appears to be quality construction. The glass at the little hole (waist?) looks pretty thick for added strength. I hold it by the filled half when inverting to avoid excess stress on the glass. Although not mentioned in the description, I think the glass is borosilicate. This is generic Pyrex (R) and is used in glass coffee pots. It is a strong, quality glass.
It is pretty accurate, within about a minute of 4 hours. Runtimes will vary somewhat with temperature.
The "sand" is not actually sand, but very small glass beads. I prefer this since they are spherical and more uniform than sand grains.
The only problem I've had is that it will occasionally get stuck when first inverted. This happens only when the temperature is around 70 degrees F or cooler. A few taps will get it going and then it will run without any problems.
The only recommendation I have for the manufacturer is to make the narrow hole just a little larger to avoid getting stuck when first inverted.
Frankly, I'd like to see an hourglass this size with a shorter runtime of 60 or 90 or 120 minutes. Use the same amount of sand, just make the hole larger.
Altogether this is a fine hourglass at a reasonable price.
