Finding an Alternative to Traditional Crystal Chandeliers

So I got an e-mail today, asking if there were an equally glitzy alternative to a crystal chandelier. The reader had nothing against crystal chandeliers (don't worry, I won't take it personally, just because I would install chandeliers in my refrigerator if I could), but well...we all have our different tastes. That is perfectly understandable. Free to be you and me, that sort of thing.

I was about to recommend entwining christmas lights around a disco ball (kidding), when I thought about the new pendant globe-shaped lighting I've been seeing around town. Round pendant lighting has always either been: a. dust magnets, b. too fussy/small to make a big splash or c. made of flimsy paper.

But now I'm seeing products to the contrary, such as the Schonbek Da Vinci crystal pendant available at Arch Street Lighting (120 Arch St.) and Tom Dixon's Mirrorball pendant at minima (118 N. 3rd). Da Vinci has been making the rounds in the press, mostly because it's the first lamp you can throw in to the dishwasher; but both are equally glitzy alternatives to the stereotypical chandelier. They command a certain strength with mass, which is different to the feeling you get with chandelier tiers or arms.

Tom Dixon Mirrorball, left; Schonbek Da Vinci, right.

Photos from minima.us, schonbek.com