Crystal Ceiling Light – Gold or Black Metal Frame, Dining & Entry

A ceiling light with crystal elements held in a metal frame, in gold or black. Unlike a ring fixture, the crystal here is carried across the whole body of the light, so refraction happens over its full area rather than only around an edge. The frame color is the one other decision, and it changes the fixture considerably: gold warms the crystal, black sets it in outline.

Crystal is chosen over plain glass for one optical property — it refracts light through a greater angle, splitting it and throwing it further sideways. That is why a crystal fixture puts points of light onto the walls and ceiling around it instead of confining everything to the floor below. The metal frame carries the load and the wiring, and it has to be rigid enough that the crystal elements hang square rather than drifting out of alignment over time.

It suits a dining room or an entry, hung where it is seen from below and from some distance. Crystal needs surfaces nearby to throw light onto; in a large open room with distant walls much of the effect simply disappears.

• Elements: Crystal
• Frame: Metal
• Colors: Black, Gold
• Form: Ceiling light