Saturday, February 11, 2006

Light is never still. It flows and dances. It arises as if from nothing and disappears instantaneously into nowhere.

And most people forget it’s even there.

Schonbek has made a study light for several generations. This is an integral part (or should be) of designing and manufacturing crystal chandeliers.

I can assure you from personal experience, if you live with a Schonbek crystal chandelier, you will experience light as never before.

The light we see is a tiny portion of a much great whole. The universe is expanding, the galaxy is turning, our solar system is revolving, our planet is spinning – and your crystal chandelier is shimmering in the rich context of this unending movement.

Faceted crystal creates a prismatic light show that is never the same from one moment to the next. The Schonbeks are perfectionists when it comes to crystal, because the finer the crystal, the more brilliant the bursts of spectral color produced by its prisms.

Ordinary lighting is easy to take for granted. But a Schonbek crystal chandelier changes mood in moonlight, sunlight and lamp light. It flirts with guests and responds to the very movement of your eyes. It invites contemplation.

If you feel more alive near your Schonbek crystal chandelier, it’s no wonder. The air all around you is filled with scattering and bouncing light beams at play. You may even notice yourself looking younger in a mirror. Prismatic light is mysteriously flattering.

Crystal chandeliers are trendy at present, and this has caused lots of me-too companies to leap into the business of making them. But they are curiously insensitive to the art of working with light. It’s not enough to hang crystals on a frame. The shape of every arm and ornament, the precise placement of every crystal jewel, is of infinite importance to the liveliness and loveliness of a crystal chandelier.

Every Schonbek is an original, designed to transform the space it occupies and perpetually delight the eye.

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

I once lived in a log cabin. It was years ago, and my ideas about room design were as primitive then as my rough walls and cast iron woodstove. Crystal chandeliers were not in my thoughts.

So it was fun, last year, to come across a photo in a decorating magazine of a log home with a crystal chandelier in the dining room. You can see this dining room on our website under Beautiful Rooms.

The crystal chandelier is Renaissance by Schonbek. Crystal looks wonderful against all that toast-colored wood. I never cease to be amazed at how well this particular crystal chandelier fits into unexpected settings.

Renaissance is a seventeenth century style, and log cabins were being built at that time, too, in Europe, Russia and Scandinavia. But I doubt if anybody ever thought to put a crystal chandelier into a log cabin until recently.

We are living in an era of great decorating freedom. Everyone is hastening to shed their preconceived ideas.

Whatever style your décor, it’s always worth asking the question, would a crystal chandelier work here?

Monday, February 6, 2006

Yachting season is coming. As soon as winter begins to look like it might end, yacht people head for open water in their minds.

Yachting is not something I do, but it’s easy for me to imagine how I’d feel if I did. I’d want to make my yacht beautiful. I’d be thinking crystal chandeliers.

It so happens that owners of really magnificent yachts think this way too. Many of them do order Schonbek crystal chandeliers.

When choosing a crystal chandelier for a yacht, you have to limit yourself to styles without dangling crystal. Yacht owners go for zero moving parts. Ideally the crystal chandelier should be firmly attached to the boat like built-in furniture.

Two popular crystal chandelier styles with the yachting crowd are Rivendell and Trilliane, as seen in the stateroom, dining saloon and head pictured on this website. Note how the large crystal ceiling basket in the dining room gives the impression of dangling without doing so. And how opulent a feeling you get with a plethora of crystal wall sconces. (Or should I call them bulkhead sconces? My yachting vocabulary is shaky.)

The very idea of a yacht seems to call for crystal chandeliers. If you’re in the midst of designing yours, you might like to get a free design consultation on sculptural chandelier styles that do well in choppy waters.