As in all marriages, there are some points of incompatibility. I like to stay up late reading, and sleep till the last minute in the morning. My husband wants to go to bed early and rise with the birds (or the sun, whatever happens earlier).

But now a new era is dawning. The Schonbek lamps look so great in our bedroom, I can’t wait to go to bed and read by them. They are dazzling to behold. They have dimmer switches that are silky smooth to turn. Switching on or off the light is a pleasure. And when turned on brightly, these lamps provide excellent reading light.

Every Schonbek lamp, of course, is beautifully designed, and remarkable for exceptional crystal. The shades are original designs by Schonbek, and made by hand. The overall effect is utterly sumptuous.

But no website can convey the star quality of Schonbek lamps. Opulent fabrics, intensely prismatic crystal and wonderful details simply won’t show up in a low resolution image on a website. See them in person if you can.

If you don’t have a large lighting showroom nearby that carries Schonbek crystal lamps, it might be worth scheduling a trip to a major store. Make it a long weekend that includes dinners, plays and other types of shopping, and your time spent looking at Schonbek lamps can be one delight among many.

Being a compulsive reader, I interact all the time with lamps, and I’ve come to believe that beautiful lamps can enrich your life amazingly. If you’ve never seen a Schonbek lamp in person, you may think I’m exaggerating. I’m not. Once you’ve browsed a collection of Schonbek crystal lamps, you’ll understand. Other lamps are simply not in the same universe.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Crystal chandeliers speak to our love of mystery. Their brilliance dazzles and eludes us at the same time. Science might explain the dance of light in terms of light waves and refraction, but nothing explains the inner glow we experience looking at these glorious prismatic effects.

You’d think a lamp would be a more pedestrian object. But there’s an aura of mystery about Schonbek crystal lamps as well.

Many Schonbek lamps have bodies formed of crystal urns. They may be slender and fluted or imposing blown and cut affairs. Either way, they seem to radiate light from within. I was studying the topaz crystal body of my Zoe lamp the other day. The lamp wasn’t even lit, yet there were glints and auras of light all around the crystal, just from the natural light in the room. It was mesmerizing. Only a Schonbek lamp is likely to have this effect on you. Most lamps disappear as you focus on the dominant objects in the room.

A few Schonbek lamps have iridescent shades that are ineffably lustrous and of a color difficult to define. The iridescence comes from weaving with different colored threads, so you end up with something delightfully indescribable.

For example, there’s a Pirouette lamp with a shade that could be called purple. But you’ll also see mauve, gold and a grayish blue in the sheen of this shade. And there’s a Cellini lamp with a shade that’s deep pink but also partakes of a luminous bluish silver. You never know quite where you are with these shifting shimmering colors, and that’s rather exciting.

Getting back to crystal chandeliers, obviously the most mysterious of all is a rock crystal chandelier. Here the mystery has nothing to do with dazzle. The refraction you get with rock crystal is extremely subtle. But every rock crystal gemstone is a miraculous thing, a gift from the Earth dating back to the early days of our planet. Its inherent density is a marvel, producing a mysterious coolness that persists on the hottest day. Its unique internal markings are a souvenir from stupendous geological events eons ago, in an unknowable past.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

We’ve just updated the colored crystal chandelier page of the website. As we put together on one page the black crystal chandeliers, The Rose with its 12 vintage color palettes, classic crystal chandeliers with Strass® Golden Teak crystal, and the many other designs Schonbek offers, I couldn’t help thinking what a nebulous word “color” is. It can mean so many things.

Colored crystal can be nostalgic or trendy, aristocratic or bohemian. And then there’s high-tech Geometrix®, a collection full of rich exotic colors. But Geometrix® is another blog.

Getting back to the new additions to our colored crystal chandelier page, Chandeliers in Strass® Golden Teak crystal are very new. You can choose a baroque or Empire style chandelier in this shimmering, magical golden color. The look is extremely opulent.

Rondelle as a chandelier, rather than a pendant, is new to the website. There’s a Victorian flavor to this crystal chandelier that I really like. It’s one of those Schonbek designs that captures a period flavor with the freedom of an artist rather than a curator. Schonbek excels at this type of originality, reinventing the past as if it were somehow present.

Timbrel with colored crystal is a new idea. This minimalist chandelier becomes quite whimsical bedewed with tiny droplets of colored crystal.

In the area of tiny crystal chandeliers, Allegro is new on this page. There’s no need to feel sorry for yourself anymore, if you have a smallish home with small rooms. You have the ideal environment for tiny Schonbek chandeliers. These little gems exude charm.

Sterling is in a new phase, too. It’s enough to give almost anyone a passion for pink to observe the swooping crystal arms of this classic chandelier flirtatiously adorned with pale pink crystal pendeloques.