Thursday, November 8, 2007

The first time I saw a Schonbek chandelier trimmed with Strass® Golden Teak crystal, I was totally entranced. I almost lost interest in traditional clear crystal chandeliers.

That was an extreme reaction, and I got over it. I’m back to appreciating all the many types of crystal Schonbek uses in its designs. Still, there is something magical about Strass® Golden Teak crystal. See the video on this website.

The way Schonbek made the most of this amazing crystal in a number of original Schonbek chandelier designs was perhaps a foretaste of how well Schonbek and Swarovski will work together.

Swarovski knows how to unleash an almost otherworldly brilliance from a crystal jewel. And Schonbek knows how to create crystal chandeliers that make romantics of us all.

Andrew Schonbek said something very insightful the other day about why someone would want a crystal chandelier. This is an acquisition motivated by the emotions, not the intellect. A crystal chandelier is really quite frivolous as a light source. It doesn’t give good reading light or distribute helpful rays of illumination into dark corners. Rather, it fills the room with a subtle, silvery, dreamy luminosity. It mesmerizes the beholder by a prismatic dance of light among the crystals. It focus one's attention on the delight of being alive, here and now.

Purely aesthetic sensations, it seems, are just as important to people as the practical arrangements in life. When you see something as compelling as a crystal chandelier drenched in shimmering golden tonalities, you instinctively want that more than a new energy efficient furnace. You may pull yourself up and quickly correct your priorities. But that first impulse to embrace beauty with a whole heart and revel in its power is a delicious thing. And in an ideal world you can afford the new furnace and the chandelier both.

That impulse to be totally enchanted by a beautiful object (like a Schonbek chandelier with Strass® Golden Teak crystal) is really a falling-in-love experience, and who doesn’t enjoy falling in love?

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Another example of Schonbek and Swarovski partnering long before Swarovski acquired Schonbek is the famous Tobias Wong rubber chandelier.

Tobias Wong loves luxury and symbols of luxury. He also loves to think outside of concepts, as far as that’s possible. So he plays with diamonds and pearls and crystal chandeliers in ways that make you wonder. He appreciates famous brand names too, in his unique iconoclastic way, and more than once Swarovski and Schonbek have figured in his creative explorations.

The rubber chandelier is strangely appealing. Tobias Wong is making fun of a cultural icon, and in doing so, strengthens its power. He’s obliterating the glitter of the crystal, but he leaves a single crystal uncoated so you can see the beauty of the thing he’s negating. This is all very edgy, and it works because of the resonance of his original materials. Namely, Swarovski crystal and Schonbek crystal chandeliers.

The rubber chandelier only exists because of Swarovski and Schonbek and a daring young designer with no sense of boundaries. Youth rewrites history, and there’s a new energy to be discovered in the world.

This is what change does. It stirs up energy. Andrew Schonbek, who is normally calm and collected, is exhibiting what would have to be called excitement about the new relationship with Swarovski. He’s working on new design ideas, and thinking in new ways about crystal, which excites me too.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

The Schonbek-Swarovski team is not new, even though their legal joining together is hardly more than a week old.

When Schonbek decided to invade the high tech lighting market, Swarovski® crystal was vital to the idea. Andrew Schonbek had a vision of light sources in geometric shapes, made entirely of crystal. The juxtaposition of very stark shapes and intensely dazzling crystal would provide the tension in these designs. Andrew Schonbek always likes to do the unexpected. The new Geometrix® collection certainly did startle the design world out of a long sleep. Minimalist lighting had always been merely functional and pretty boring. No longer.

The crystal had to be dazzling, of course, for Geometrix® designs to be as dramatic as possible. So only Swarovski® crystal would do. Swarovski® has studied the properties of crystal, and the behavior of light interacting with crystal faceting, with an intensity and ingenuity unrivalled in the world.  Much as Schonbek has studied the aesthetics of the crystal chandelier.

Swarovski® saw the potential of Geometrix® and gave Schonbek just what was needed. The new lily cut Strass® crystal octagon had a higher refractive index than any cut previously available, and this was the building block of the new Geometrix® designs.

The newest premium colors for Geometrix® again demonstrate what happens when Schonbek and Swarovski combine their talents. Swarovski provided Schonbek with exclusive Strass® crystal colors. And Schonbek artfully combined these colors in random patterns to create dynamic color sensations unique in the visual world.

You may think I’m exaggerating the astonishing beauty of these crystal color composites, if you only view the photographic images of the colors on this website. No camera can possibly capture the dynamic beauty of these crystal colors. You really must see Geometrix® in person to know what I’m talking about. These are colors you experience with your entirely physical being, not just your eyes.

You can look up the Geometrix® dealer nearest you right on this website.