Friday, November 16, 2007

Life can be a difficult business at times, which is why we need a fantasy life as well. The safest form of fantasy is one based in reality; for example, interior decorating.

When you design your interiors with the proper mix of passion and deliberation, you’re creating a protected space full of soothing and/or exciting visual effects orchestrated by yourself. You are the absolute ruler of this space, as much as Louis XIV was the absolute ruler of France in the seventeenth century and, like Louis, you might find yourself wanting a lot of crystal chandeliers to keep things fun and bright. Louis was called the Sun King, and he knew something about brilliance. He was crazy about crystal chandeliers.

What better way to establish an atmosphere of pure enjoyment of the moment?

In the outside world, you may not always be lovely, witty and wise, but in this fantasy space called home you are.

Playing with this idea makes me think of Scheherazade, a crystal chandelier by Schonbek that relates beautifully to fairy tales and fantasy.

Scheherazade is an imaginative composition of swirling scrollwork inset with finely faceted Strass® crystal jewelry beads. It was inspired by the princess of the same name who spun 1001 tales for her demanding king. If you wish to gratify a desire for the exotic, this is an excellent choice of crystal chandelier.

Getting back to Louis XIV, you can actually outdo the Sun King in magnificence by choosing a Schonbek crystal chandelier trimmed in Strass® Golden Teak crystal. Renaissance, for example, is a style Louis would have recognized and approved. His crystal chandeliers at Versailles were designed along the same lines. But he was born too soon to have the pleasure of living with Strass® Golden Teak crystal, a recent Swarovski innovation. How he would have loved the shimmering, liquidy gold quality of this crystal!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

The invention of electricity was a good thing generally, but electric light with its unforgiving glare was not an unmixed blessing for home decorating. Happily civilization had an antidote at hand: the crystal chandelier.

Prismatic crystal in sufficient abundance can transform prosaic electric light into soft, caressing, subliminally shimmering luminescence. This miracle has to do with the way the facets of the crystal refract light, liberating all the colors of the spectrum in prismatic bursts. I don’t understand this entirely, but if you’re good at science, you may. I do, however, recognize the results of having lots of finely faceted crystal in a room.

If you want to deepen the sheen of your wooden furniture and enrich the colors of your upholstery, if you want to look years younger yourself, then a crystal chandelier is the way to go.

To intensify the spectral effects of a crystal chandelier, you want crystal of the utmost brilliance. And that would be Strass® crystal by Swarovski®. 

I always come back to Olde World as my favorite crystal chandelier in the realm of pure dazzle. This signature chandelier was designed by Arnold Schonbek. His children, Andrew Schonbek and Eileen Schonbek Beer, expanded the idea to include many sizes and configurations. Now there’s even a mini chandelier in the Olde World collection.

Olde World is lavishly trimmed with Strass® crystal. And to add to the spectral wildness, it has elaborately cut crystal column pieces, dishes and bobeches. Crystal arms keep the theme entirely focused on crystal.

These intricate column pieces remind me of some amazingly ornate cut crystal bowls I was given by my first and second mothers-in-law. Pieces like this were immensely popular a generation or two ago, and if you inherit any, that’s all the more reason to have a crystal chandelier. Your cut crystal collection will gain brilliance and importance by association with the chandelier.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

The other day I was in a lawyer’s office, on personal business, and the subject came up of the Swarovski acquisition of Schonbek. The lawyer exclaimed, “That’s a wonderful company!” It seems his wife collects Swarovski® figurines and they think the world of Swarovski.

That got me to thinking about collecting, and how Schonbek and Swarovski both have a strong appeal to collectors.

The fact is, a home is a kind of collection. A discerning person gathers together all sorts of beautiful things, perhaps in one major decorating project, or perhaps over many years of traveling and shopping.

We’ve all seen homes that are thrown together, and this is not what I mean by a collection. Some people are born with an instinct for beauty, and others are not. Those born to it always manage to surround themselves with a lovely atmosphere at home, no matter whether they’re well off or living on a modest income.

A Schonbek crystal chandelier is of interest to collectors for many reasons. First and foremost there’s the authenticity factor. Every Schonbek is an original design that comes into the world from a family of designers dating back to 1870. A Schonbek crystal chandelier is always an imaginative work, not a reproduction, but it’s usually influenced by some great era of design, like the Napoleonic empire, or the Hapsburg reign or the Victorian era. Or more likely there may be several influences at work. These design motifs are recognized by collectors and are considered a delight.

Then again, if you like to collect beautiful things, but you don’t have time to become an expert in the field, the best course is to stick with a name of undoubted authenticity, like Swarovski or Schonbek.

Both Swarovski and Schonbek have a history going back to the nineteenth century.  When generation after generation of an artistic family concentrates on perfecting an artistic endeavor, collectors take notice. Nouveau designers can sometimes produce collectibles, but there’s nothing quite like historic resonance.