If you’re looking for the Wow Factor for your home, a crystal chandelier is almost de rigueur.

Recently an executive at Schonbek informed me that the “Wow Factor” was a phrase on everybody’s lips at a trade show he attended. He wondered if I should use it in my copy.

I haven’t quite found occasion to do that, but it is a phrase that sets me thinking. If I had to choose a few Schonbek crystal chandeliers that best exemplified the Wow Factor, which would they be?

Certainly Da Vinci.™  A perfectly round crystal chandelier as dazzling as a celestial body will compel the attention of guests. And you might also say “Wow” to the fact that it’s dishwasher safe. It’s amazing to think of a high-end crystal chandelier going into a dishwasher. It might help you get over the contradiction, I suppose, if you have a dishwasher that’s very high-end.

Another crystal chandelier likely to astonish all observers is a Hamilton with Jet Black crystal. If you’ve never stood in front of an all-black crystal chandelier, you can’t begin to imagine how mesmerizing it is. I really advise you to seek out the experience, with a visit to a Schonbek dealer. The dark gleam of Jet Black crystal conveys such a feeling of mystery.

My personal idea of Wow is rock crystal. We’re so lucky to be allowed to possess anything so extraordinary. This natural quartz came into being with the formation of the Earth. Geological upheavals that would have made a great horror movie were its earliest influences. Rock crystal formed over eons that saw continents shifting and floating around, exerting unimaginable pressure on the Earth’s crust. The fissures, veins and mists you see inside a rock crystal gemstone tell an awe-inspiring tale. I like to imagine I can read that tale, if I look long enough at these elusive markings.

My favorite rock crystal chandelier is Renaissance with a mixture of rock crystal, Olivine colored crystal and clear crystal.

You can also wow yourself and others by acquiring a crystal chandelier of enormous size. This presumes that you inhabit a palace or close approximation of one. Schonbek makes crystal chandeliers in custom sizes for people who live large. A chandelier composed of thousands upon thousands of crystal gems is indeed a sight to see. Recently Schonbek was commissioned to design and build the largest glass-arm crystal chandelier in the world. There really are no limits to Wow.

Why do people seek out the Wow Factor? I like to think it’s a desire to live life more fully, to celebrate beauty on a grand scale, to make a personal contribution to the wonders of the world.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Vendome is a crystal chandelier that can only be described in terms of several centuries of design influences. I was just trying to write a description of this chandelier, and I hardly knew where to start.

Although probably I should start with the rock crystal. The massive rock crystal ball at the heart of the chandelier, and the rock crystal pendants and finial sphere, are geological marvels as well as works of high craftsmanship. Rock crystal quartz is as old as the Earth, and takes great skill and sensitivity to work with. To create a gemstone from the raw quartz, artisans carve, cut and polish their tricky material laboriously by hand. Rock crystal is filled with mysterious internal markings that make every gemstone unique in the universe.  

So Vendome might be seen as compatible with natural building materials. From this point of view you can call it a contemporary crystal chandelier.

On the other hand, note the magnificent lead crystal urn that lends an air of civilization to the design. It makes me think of a Victorian banquet hall replete with cut crystal. So you also enjoy a period flavor with this crystal chandelier.

The scroll-like arms supporting the candles and ornamented with rock crystal pendants are suggestive of the baroque scrollwork in seventeenth-century Versailles-style crystal chandeliers. Yet another traditional note.

And then you have the fascinating chains supporting the chandelier. Think medieval. Picture lords and ladies in the court of King Arthur.

So we're left without a catch-all phrase to describe this crystal chandelier, unless it’s “eclectic” or, more to the point, “utterly original.”

Tuesday, January 2, 2007    
The decision to acquire a crystal chandelier can be the catalyst for getting rid of all sorts of questionable accumulations in one’s life. A crystal chandelier is so extraordinary a possession, it will inevitably raise your aesthetic standards. A crystal chandelier will enhance everything beautiful in your life and highlight for removal the unbeautiful.

It’s not always easy to let things go. I’m lucky because my husband works for an organization that has a free table. So we can give things away the day we get the impulse. The dubious item just goes into a shopping bag by the front door, to be taken to work the next day. I love the free table.

Schonbek maintains that a crystal chandelier can go with anything. That’s true in the deepest sense. But anything doesn’t mean anything and everything. It just means you can freely mix periods, colors, styles, textures, always with an artistic eye.

You know in your heart what items should go out the door. Collectibles that nobody really collects. Souvenirs from places you don’t care about anymore. Photos of other people’s pets. Gifts you wish wouldn’t keep on giving. The new year is a perfect time to see these things off. In many cultures people clean their houses as part of celebrating the new year. You could take this one step farther to the idea of clearing out the unlovely remains of passé ideas about decor.

If you’re like me, you rearrange your furniture every now and then, often because you’ve brought a new rug or chair or cabinet into the mix. A crystal chandelier will survive these upheavals looking better than ever. It becomes your anchor while you try out different positions for the other objects in the room. It presides in a princely fashion over the new environment you’ve created.