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Swedish crystal chandeliers with wax candles, sconces and pendants |
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Manufacturing and Finishes.
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Turning a ceiling plate |
Preparing the coating on brass candle rings |
Bending the brass crown with a hand tool |
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Right materials The dominant material in the frame is brass. Brass is a great material that goes well with crystal. It is also relatively soft which makes it ideal to form arcs and curves. Suspension chains, however, should be made of iron for safety reasons. |
Soldering The soldering process reveals much about the quality of the workmanship. Perfect soldering is soldering that is invisible. It can only be achieved by cleaning and polishing the intricate soldered surfaces by hand to completely eliminate excess solder and any discoloration from the heat generated by the soldering process. A high quality chandelier should have all soldered surfaces cleaned and polished, even those in less visible spots, like in the plume crowns or difficult to see seams. Soldering is done with silver. |
Creating the shape When brass is sculpted by hand you can feel the material’s resistance which differs between various sections of the brass. This hand shaping creates a unique, live, organic form which varies from one chandelier to the next and cannot be replicated by a machine. Sharp edges, perfect curves and perfectly straight sections reveal a machine-made product. |
Click here to learn about our crystal quality.
Facts about our brass. All components of our chandeliers are made of pure brass. Even the ornaments on our beautiful chandeliers are made of brass. The quality of these ornaments equal the chandelier itself. They are produced using various manufacturing methods, like sand casting, pressure turning, punching, etc.. All decorative ornaments are coated using the same method that is used for the frame, thereby maintaining the same shade and finish throughout the entire chandelier.
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Pinning is done using thin brass wire to attach the prism to the frame. A pinning tool is necessary. The process of using wire is slower than using clips but on the other hand the pinning is of higher quality and the prism is better fastened. Click here to read about our prisms quality.
Finishes
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Polished brass |
Cognac |
Ebony |
Gold and Chrome |
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Hand polishing is the preferred method for polishing brass, it is also the most expensive method. The components are filed, sanded and polished using rotating disks. Wax is applied to the disks, and the combination of the wax and the spinning disks produces enough heat to make the surface melt. The brass is then smoothed out and leveled. Finally, high gloss wax and rotating cotton disks are used to make the brass shine like a mirror. The chandelier is then varnished with a clear finish to protect the surface. |
Genuine oxidization is a controlled acceleration of the aging process of brass. The aim is to imitate the patina of a chandelier that has darkened over time. The brass is roughly polished and cleaned to the extreme before it is dipped in an oxide bath. The process is terminated when the material has reached the desired color. The frame is then fixated in a stop bath. Finally it is lightly polished with a cloth and varnished in a mat finish. |
A different method is used to obtain the dark oxide called ebony. Clean and roughly polished components are dipped in an oxide bath until they are completely black. The brass color is then brought out again by polishing the blackened parts by hand with steel wool in water until they acquire the right color. The finished surface is then varnished in a mat finish. |
Gilded and nickel-plated chandeliers became common in the 1960's in Europe. A frame that is to be gilded or nickel-plated is hung up in one piece or in parts on frames that go through a number of different baths, first for cleaning then to be nickel-plated or gilded in an electrolyte bath. The process is completely automated. |
