These are stunning. I saw them at the Expo West food show being used in a booth where they were displaying their imported beans. I recognized them right away as these that I had been considering at Amazon, thought they were using the bigger ones. I politely asked the man if he would mind if I open a jar and asked if that would be alright since I was interested in the jar and not his product! It turned out i wasn't the first! Many people were admiring the jars and he was telling them where the jars came from (here on Amazon) .
The lids are on tight so you have to ready to use a little strength to get them off. That said, I figure that is because they are airtight. I also figured they would get easier over time and I do think that is possibly happening. But they are tight lids for sure.
I was worried about losing the sprinkle function of the jars with spice in them from the store. But I turns out I can still shake spice out of them just fine with about the same result.
I made little labels for my herbs and spices with thin sharpie markers of different colors, on white paper. I cut them to size and used scotch tape to affix them to the lids. They look lovely and it works. I got a couple flat tray baskets (about 18" wide) for my pantry, and I put them in these and pull them out for use. My labels are color coded. I'm not a gourmet cook, so my little system for my simpler cooking methods is at least working for me. In fact it is because I like to use different spices and herbs, but do not cook at home all the time, that the airtight jars appealed to me as I don't go through spices that quickly.

I bought these to organize a spice cupboard that was out of control. I can't cook worth a darn, but I keep trying - and trying, and trying, and trying. And all those recipes require spices. So, in an effort to produce something edible, I buy those spices and end up never using them again. I vowed to toss old (some as much as 10 years!) and rarely-if-ever-used spices, and get down to the essentials. I bought 24 of these jars from Crate & Barrel. After receiving them, I stood in my kitchen and ruthlessly threw spices into the garbage. Ground Galangal Root? NO MERCY! Spanish Anise Seeds? HIT THE ROAD! Chinese Five Spice? I HATED THE TASTE OF YOU FROM THE GET-GO!

I then filled these little jars with the spices I actually use, placing stickers on the bottoms indicating which spice was which. Alas! 24 bottles weren't enough! Luckily, Amazon came to the rescue with an additional 24. Cheaper than Crate & Barrel, free shipping, and no tax! End result? A spice cupboard that's a delight to look into. Added bonus: that skinny little cupboard is now so organized that I can prep my various slumgullions and culinary disasters more quickly than ever.

Cautions:

1. There are no perforated inner lids allowing you to daintily sprinkle spices. Personally, I don't care, but it may be a deal breaker for some of you;

2. As noted in other reviews, the bottles don't hold an entire "supermarket" bottle of spice. Again, I don't care because I won't use up an entire bottle of most spices before they need to be tossed anyway. For those spices I use a lot, I bought six of the 12-1/2 oz. Libbey bottles; and,

3. The price stickers on the bottom are the devil to get off.

I am very happy with the purchase. And, final comment, they're MADE IN AMERICA.

THIS IS A REPLACEMENT SET FOR THE A SET A WEEK AGO. THEY ARE VERY GOOD IN LOCKING IN LIQUID, CRUSHED AND POWERED SPICES. I PURCHASED 24 A FEW YEARS AGO AND 1 WAS CRACKED WHEN I MOVED. THE NEXT TIME I ORDERED, 3 WERE BROKEN BUT THE OUTER BOX SHOWED NO SIGNS OF DAMAGE. THIS TIME 1 JAR HAS A HOLE IN IT...NOT CRACKED, JUST A HOLE IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE SIDE. I DECIDED TO KEEP THESE INSTEAD OF THIS BACK-AND-FORTH FOR ONLY 1 DAMAGED JAR. I REALLY WISHED LIBBEY WOULD MAKE THE 12-1/2 OZ VIBE JARS.

I love the whole collection of the Libbey Vibe jars. I purchased 6 sets of this 4-1/2 oz size to store all of my spices and have some extra for adding to my collection and/or in case of breakage. I also purchased these jars in the other sizes offered. I am happy to say they were packed well and not one jar arrived broken. I am using this 4-1/2 oz size for regular size jars of spices (such as McCormick), and they fit the whole amount just fine if you shake it down just a bit. I also purchased chalkboard labels (by Ziggyboard) that fit on the caps of these jars since I am storing them in a drawer. There are other sizes and shapes of labels that will work just fine for these if you are planning to store them in a cabinet. I love the design and functionality of these jars, and how much more organized and accessible my spice collection is now!

A note on the labels that are stuck to each jar: I've seen a couple of reviews stating it was difficult to scrape the labels off the bottom. Instead of trying to peel or scrape, I simply soaked the jars in hot soapy water for a few minutes, and the labels came right off by just wiping across the bottom with my sponge. No scrubbing or scraping, it could not have been easier! The jars needed to be washed anyway since they're holding food.

I found the 42 oz size Vibe jars are great for holding the large 1-lb size containers of spices (the ones you might purchase from Costco for example), 12-1/2 oz size are good for those spice jars that are larger than a regular size jar but smaller than the 1-lb sizes, and I use the 62-oz size for cinnamon sticks and kosher salt.

These jars have made my spice drawer and cabinet so much more attractive and efficient. I highly recommend them to anyone who wants an organized kitchen.

My new years resolution was to get more organized, so I have been going through every room and spending waaaay too much time figuring out how to declutter and better organize my belongings. At this point my journey, I have already done enough projects where I should have started an organizing blog to document all of them.

Rearranging my spices so far has been my favorite task, mostly because it is decorative in addition to organizational. Before I had a whole cupboard devoted to spices, but things were a mess. I would forget I had a spice, and buy another leaving me with 3 tiny jars of oregano. Or even worse, I would assume that I had something but I really didn't which meant that I had to make another trip to the store or forgo the full flavor potential of a dish.

With these jars, I was able to combine all of my duplicate spices together. The other wonderful part is that I am able to easily observe when I am getting low on a spice, since I will have my spice collection visible on a wall-hanging spice rack (just waiting on my dad to saw the wood for me). I bought a glass paint pen at a local craft store, and I used this to label my jars. This labeling is only a problem for lighter colored spices like garlic or onion powder since I am using a white pen, my solution for this is to put the label up high on the glass wall and not fill the jar to that point. Maybe someday in the future I will want a more uniform looking label like Schan's photo, but for now this was easy and cheap.

As far as the stickers on the bottom go, you don't REALLY need to remove them since they are on the bottom and not many people are going to be looking at that side of the jar. I removed them anyway, and I did this by filling a cookie sheet with warm water and setting the jars in it. I went to run some errands, and when I got back the labels easily rubbed off.

The only reason that I am docking a star is that I wish that the seal was more substantial like rubber. The glass walls are also a bit thin (I'm not concerned too much about this), so I wouldn't grip them too hard.