Friday, January 4, 2008

Once you start bringing crystal chandeliers into your home, rooms bereft of crystal may seem bleak and cheerless to you. You may even decide that when you travel, you want to stay in a hotel with crystal chandeliers.

I was just looking at some press clippings and noticed that many hotels proudly inform the reader that they have crystal chandeliers, in addition to such features as gilded vault ceilings, damask wall coverings, Corinthian columns and Belgian chocolates at bedtime. Obviously crystal chandeliers are a draw.

We have a case study on this website about a resort in Pennsylvania called Nemacolin. Although this resort is named after Chief Nemacolin of the Delawares, it’s anything but primitive. There are Schonbek crystal chandeliers and wall sconces in profusion, throughout the lobby, rooms and hallways. And it’s practically a museum, it contains so much artwork (by the likes of Remington, Erté and Audubon). So here’s a getaway where thankfully you won’t be away from crystal chandeliers.

The Waldorf Astoria in New York has a fabulous antique crystal chandelier in the lobby. It’s not a Schonbek, but a replica made by Schonbek once hung there briefly, during the filming of the latest Pink Panther movie. Schonbek built a custom design specifically for a crash scene. Movie makers love crashing chandeliers. You might enjoy recalling the scene next time you’re at the Waldorf.

If you like Las Vegas, of course, you’re destined to see plenty of crystal chandeliers on a visit to that capital of glitter. The Schonbek crystal chandeliers in Paris Las Vegas should not be missed.

But in an ideal world, home should be more delightful than any place you can visit. And in fact, there’s nothing quite so satisfying after an absence as returning to a beautiful home full of Schonbek crystal chandeliers.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

My advertising guru would sometimes use a metaphor about cave paintings to describe difficult clients. Booze clients (for example) want to see pictures of people sipping whiskey so this will happen in real life, just as prehistoric people would paint an image of a hunter spearing a bison so their hunting forays would be successful. We’d groan when a client demanded a cave painting.

But there is some wisdom in the cave painting.

The design of your home is something like a sophisticated cave painting. You’re evoking calm or excitement with your colors – whatever state of mind you enjoy most. And when you hang a crystal chandelier, you have an expectation of some delightful result. Spectacular parties perhaps, or inspiration to succeed in all your endeavors (one reason monarchs have always liked crystal chandeliers). Or you may realize, from reading Schonbek advertising, that a crystal chandelier will fill your home with an amazing, shimmering joie de vivre.

If I wanted to be the fashion leader in my circle, constantly startling my friends with my daring sense of style, I’d favor a black Hamilton. This crystal chandelier is so chic, I might need a new at-home wardrobe to go with it.

If I liked to picture myself a romantic heroine in a house full of furnishings handed down by genteel ancestors, I might hang a Florentine crystal chandelier in my bedroom. This delightful colored crystal chandelier feels like an instant family heirloom.

To make sure that my spirits would lift every day I came home from work, I’d hang a Renaissance in the foyer. There’s nothing like a crystal chandelier exploding with prismatic bursts of color and light for elevating one’s mood.

To deepen my sense of connection with the Earth and the mysteries of the universe, I’d want to live with a rock crystal chandelier. Perhaps I’d choose a Hamilton that displays both rock crystal and Jet Black crystal, a fascinating mixture of fashion and Nature.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

We have a new section on the website for contemporary chandeliers that’s very exciting and merits discussion.

But first for a bit of history. Schonbek was a pioneer of the contemporary crystal chandelier. Trilliane is an example of this. The design resembles a crystal sculpture rather than a conventional crystal chandelier with arms and pendants. Schonbek created leafy effects by turning crystal pendeloques upside down. This pretty much turned the lighting industry upside down too.  

But Trilliane was so successful that it became a classic. The same is true of Rivendell, a design inspired by flowers, buds and vines.  So we keep those designs under “Crystal Chandeliers” because they are signature Schonbek designs, and really in a category all their own.

Getting back to the new web pages, Schonbek has three contemporary collections that redefine the crystal chandelier in a new way. Jasmine and Rhiannon are remarkable for being formed of massive chunks of optic crystal. This crystal is very finely faceted, flawless and radiates amazing rainbows of spectral light.

Jasmine has a purity of shape that alludes to the traditional crystal chandelier in a wonderfully original manner. The simplicity of the design reveals the beauty and value of the crystal. In my opinion, someday Jasmine will be a classic, but right now its purity of line is so startling that it belongs in the contemporary category.

The beauty of Diva is in the details. Spare spoke arms end in sharply inverted, finely faceted optic crystal tapers. The technical looking gallery is accented with piercingly brilliant Strass® crystal jewels. Jet black crystal is used with dramatic effect.

These designs are elegant rather than edgy. If contemporary is defined as edgy, you’re in the realm of Geometrix®. Geometrix® designs assume geometric shapes and are formed of Swarovski® crystal. They can be tiny pendants. But when they grow massive, they become crystal chandeliers, though like no crystal chandelier you’ve ever seen before, as with the Vertex® pentahedron and the Refrax™ wave.

Geometrix® also includes designs that  are recognizable as chandeliers, yet are anything but conventional, like the two Elements chandeliers. One makes me think of our solar system. The other is like an ode to light and energy.

Geometrix® designs are only available from Geometrix® dealers. We list them right on this website.