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Chandeliers may have been around a lot longer than the invention of electric light but the classic style of this design lives on and will continue for many more lifetimes. Swarovski chandeliers are particularly special. Daniel Swarovski was a man from Bohemia who settled in Austria where he was an apprenticed glass cutter. Eventually he had his own business and started producing lead crystal glass including chandeliers. Today that company is still making stunningly beautiful glass chandeliers but has also branched into everything from top quality optical instruments to jewellery and electronics. Apart from superbly crafted classic eighteenth century style chandeliers, the company makes fresh and modern styles suited to modern buildings and tastes. It is hardly surprising at the number of chandeliers now appearing in modern office buildings. The atriums of some large city corporations have stunning glass chandeliers hanging down and giving impressive light and style to otherwise drab space. Lighting is the final touch to any new or old architecture. It is surprising how many people get the lighting all wrong when the rest of the building is crying out for some lighting imagination. A friend of mine gave up his job as a theatre lighting technician and now makes a very good living as a consultant to private individuals and art galleries in teaching the use of correct lighting. On a cold evening, sitting in front of a wood burning fire with a good book, what would you prefer, a single bright overhead electric bulb swing on the end of a piece of flex, or a reading lamp and some gentle wall background lights? Chandeliers were the first form of overhead lighting and can trace their origins back many hundreds of years. The first glass chandeliers were immensely large fussy affairs and a fine example of one can be seen at the Dolmabahce palace in Istanbul. This hugely ornate glass chandelier is visited and admired by thousands of visitors every week. The trouble with a huge chandelier is the cleaning. Today’s styles are simpler although no less attractive. Old chandeliers had to have masses of lead crystal glass to reflect and refract the light source. The greater the light from your chandelier the more impressed your visitors. Kings, Queens, Emperors, all tried desperately to outdo each other with the size and brightness of their ball room chandelier. One of the funniest television moments was an episode from the series ‘Only Fools and Horses’ when three dodgy characters have talked their way into a stately home and convinced the owner that they are professional chandelier cleaners. The old man goes upstairs and after removing some floor boards, starts to unscrew the large steel nut which holds the chandelier to the ceiling. Meanwhile, down below, the other two are atop some step ladders holding a large sheet between them ready to catch the chandelier. Only the audience are getting the punch line. Yes, there are in fact two chandeliers, both in view, and eventually the wrong crashes spectacularly to the ground. Don’t do anything as daft as that with your Swarovski chandeliers and check out these beautiful items at http://www.periodstylelighting.co.uk now.
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