The top series of every brand, premium hardware and glass, custom colors, arches to template — and, when an architect has drawn something no catalog lists, custom fabrication to match it.
Premium windows are standard windows with more: the same branded systems, upgraded — the top series of the range, premium hardware, laminated or acoustic or triple glass, custom colors and finishes, arches and shapes rolled to a template, and, often, custom engineering to meet a design an architect has drawn that no catalog anticipates. Reynaers MasterLine 8 and 10, Cortizo COR 80, Pella Architect Series and Reserve, Andersen A-Series and E-Series, Marvin Signature Ultimate and Modern, custom thermally broken steel. Premium is not a different kind of window; it is the standard line taken as far as the design needs.
Product lines: Budget windows · Standard windows · Premium windows | Budget doors · Standard doors · Premium doors
Three things separate a premium window from a standard one, and a window can have any or all of them. The top series of the brand: deeper profiles, better thermal breaks, tested to higher loads — MasterLine over CS 77, COR 80 over COR 70, Architect Series over Lifestyle. Premium hardware and options: concealed hinges, brass or bronze cremone bolts and stays, heavy-duty gearing for oversized sashes, integrated screens and blinds, laminated, acoustic or triple glazing, any color and any finish. Custom work: the arch rolled to the opening, the divided-lite pattern drawn to match a 1920s original, the sash sized past the catalog limit with engineered hardware, the corner window with no post, the window designed with the architect for one house.
That last part is where premium sometimes stops being a product and becomes a project. A landmark townhouse whose front windows must match the originals in sightline and profile and carry period brass; a penthouse whose steel windows had to be thermally broken and made to a drawing; a house whose arched Reynaers units were made to templates we took on site. The system is the starting point; the window is made for the building.
| Brand | Premium line | What it adds | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reynaers | MasterLine 8 · MasterLine 10 · Hi-Finity | Deepest thermal breaks (MasterLine 10 to Passive House levels), largest sashes, hidden vent, SoftTone acoustic, Hi-Finity minimal sliding | Ocean Parkway custom house (arched units to template) |
| Cortizo | COR 80 · COR Vision | 80 mm frames for triple glazing and big sashes; Vision minimal sliders | Large-format townhouse rear elevations |
| Pella | Architect Series Traditional & Contemporary · Reserve | Wood profiles matched to period detail, true divided lites, premium hardware finishes | Landmark front elevations |
| Andersen | A-Series · E-Series | A-Series: Andersen’s best clad; E-Series: made to order in custom sizes, shapes, colors and wood species | Custom houses, shaped windows |
| Marvin | Signature Ultimate · Signature Modern | Ultimate: the deepest wood-clad line with the largest sizes and most hardware options; Modern: fiberglass and aluminum for big glass | East 71st Street townhouse (Ultimate wood) |
| Optimum / custom steel | Thermally broken steel windows | Steel sightlines under 1 inch, brass cremones, made to drawing | 205 East 69th Street penthouse |
| Crystal | AC85 dual-layer acoustic | Two insulated units in one frame, STC to 57 | Flight paths, the BQE, over-the-bar apartments |
| Alutech / Everest | Top configurations | Heavy-duty hardware, laminated or triple glass, custom colors, oversized sashes | Curtain-wall-integrated windows, corner units |
Glass. Laminated for noise and security, dual-layer or secondary units for serious noise (see soundproof windows), triple units for Passive House and Local Law 97 targets (see triple-pane windows), low-iron for color fidelity, restoration-pattern glass laminated into a modern unit for landmark work.
Hardware. Concealed hinges so nothing shows on the sash edge; heavy-duty gearing rated 170–200 kg for oversized sashes; brass, bronze, nickel and living finishes; period cremone bolts, casement stays and sash lifts fitted over modern multipoints; keyed locks, limiters and restrictors to the New York window-guard rules.
Finish. Any RAL, matte and textured coats, anodized bronze and champagne, two-tone, wood-look coatings on aluminum, and the wood species and stains of the clad lines.
Shape and size. Half-round, segmental and elliptical heads rolled to site templates; circles, ovals, trapezoids and triangles; sashes past the catalog maximum with engineered hardware; corner windows without a post; window walls with structural mullions. See arched windows and shaped windows.
Integration. Screens and blinds between the glass or in the frame; motorised operation; windows set into curtain wall as inserts, as on the Anable.
Landmark street facades, where matching the original profile, sightline and hardware is the price of approval and the premium line is where those options live — how we do that. Custom houses whose architect has drawn the windows as part of the design rather than chosen them from a book: Ocean Parkway, Woodmere. Penthouses and townhouses with oversized openings, terraces and window walls: East 71st Street, the Tower House. Passive House and low-energy projects that need the deepest frames. Any house where the owner wants the window to be the last one they buy.
The premium line is priced by what is in it, not by a tier multiplier. A MasterLine window with standard hardware and a custom color is a modest step above a CS 77; the same window with concealed hinges, laminated acoustic glass and a brass cremone is a larger one; an arched unit to template with all of that is a custom product with a custom price. We itemise the upgrades in the proposal so the client sees what each one costs and can take or leave it. Lead times run eight to sixteen weeks for the European top series and custom steel, and longer for anything templated or engineered.
The survey is longer: we photograph the originals, template every arch, measure every reveal. The drawings are more: full shop drawings, hardware schedules, color samples and often a sample sash for the client or the Commission. The fabrication is ours for the aluminum and steel systems and closely managed for the wood lines. The installation is the same crews with more time in the flashing and the finish. See design and drawings and custom fabrication.
A standard branded system taken further: the top series of the brand (Reynaers MasterLine, Cortizo COR 80, Pella Architect Series, Andersen A/E-Series, Marvin Signature), premium hardware and glass options, custom colors and shapes, and often custom engineering to meet an architect’s design.
Reynaers MasterLine 8/10 and Hi-Finity; Cortizo COR 80 and COR Vision; Pella Architect Series and Reserve; Andersen A-Series and E-Series; Marvin Signature Ultimate and Modern; custom thermally broken steel; Crystal AC85 acoustic.
No. It is the same branded systems with upgrades — deeper series, better hardware, specialty glass, custom finishes and shapes — and, where a design needs it, custom fabrication on top.
When the design asks for something the catalog does not list: an arch rolled to a template, a sash past the maximum size, a corner without a post, a period hardware set on a modern lock, a color or finish made for one house.
Usually, because matching the original profiles, sightlines and hardware requires options that live in the premium line. We prepare the LPC submission as part of the job.
It depends on the upgrades, which we itemise: a custom color on a top-series frame is a small step; concealed hinges, acoustic laminated glass and brass hardware a larger one; templated arches a custom price.
Eight to sixteen weeks for the European top series and custom steel from approved shop drawings, longer for templated or engineered units.
Steel Windows Standard Windows Budget Windows Premium Doors Landmark Window Replacement Arched Windows Custom Fabrication All Products
About this page. Written by Alex GC Inc. d/b/a Alex Glass Construction and reviewed before publication by Aleksandr Chernovolenko, Managing Partner, with our design and estimating lead and a field foreman. Our foremen hold the NYC DOB Site Safety Training supervisor card and our crews the 40-hour worker card; we are certified to fabricate, install and service Alutech and Everest aluminum systems. Facts are drawn from our own projects, manufacturer test data and the applicable codes; where we are giving an opinion, we say so. Last reviewed September 2026. Credentials
Send the drawings or the photographs. We will tell you which system carries it, what the upgrades are, and price the window as designed.
