There is no spirits vessel more iconic than the classic cocktail glass, commonly called the martini glass. A conical well perched on a long stem, it's instantly recognizable -- even folks who don't know a tumbler from a snifter know a martini glass when they see one, thanks to James Bond films and the countless cosmos downed by the "Sex and the City" ladies.

The design is purposeful; the long stem allows the imbiber to keep his hands -- and thus his body temperature -- away from the drink, keeping it chilled. The dramatically flared well is said to enhance the bouquet of the gin. It's simple, elegant and versatile; it can be used for martinis as well as Manhattans, cosmopolitans as well as brandy Sidecars.

But after more than a century of use, can it be improved? The Pittsburgh Glass Center hoped to find out, spending the summer soliciting new martini glass blueprints from would-be glass designers around the country. Fifty designs were received, and three were recently selected as finalists.

They are:

• Tom Kubilius of Pittsburgh drew up the "volcano glass," separating the base and V-shaped well. The well nests on top of the squat and sturdy stem, which can be filled with ice, to keep the drink cool.

Mr. Kubilius, president of the Bright Innovation design shop in the South Side, tasked his employees with the enviable research project of sampling martinis and chatting with bartenders. The classic martini glass, they found, "looks great, but they spill so much. Is there a more stable way to do it?"

That's why they designed a glass with a squatter look rather than one with a tall stem.

• Shirley Underwood of Manassas, Va., designed the SUROX glass. Like the Kubilius design, this glass also separates into its components -- a "classic tulip-shaped" cavity, a base and a screw-on bottom that allows the base to be filled with ice.

Her back story is by far the most interesting.

"There won't be too many 75-year-old recovering alcoholics entering this contest," Ms. Underwood said.

That's a good bet. It's also a good bet that there won't be too many martini glass designs 35 years in the making, as Ms. Underwood claims hers is. Back in her drinking days, she said, she was frustrated by the rate at which her martinis warmed.

In her head, the now-retired Navy commander conjured up a better martini glass. "I designed it. I put it aside. Then I read about this contest."

Ms. Underwood is no computer expert, so she enlisted the help of her friend Margit Ray to draw up a computerized version of the design that has been in her head since the 1970s.

• Leah Vigneau of Pittsburgh designed the "spiketini," a glass that lacks a stem and a base. They are replaced with dozens of tiny glass "spikes," extending from the cavity. The spikes keep the hand away from the glass itself.

It's the most visually striking of the three finalists. She and her husband, Elijah Wiegmann, are product designers at 4moms, a baby product brand based in the Strip District and owned by Thorley Industries LLC.

"The tactile [feel] of it is completely different" from the standard martini glass, she said. "It's more playful."

This month, the finalists will meet with Pittsburgh Glass Center artists and begin the process of building six glasses of each design. The winner will be selected in October.

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