Those suspended vintage lightbulbs you see everywhere? Hugely popular, usually hung in rows or clusters, from coloured, braided flex.
They look great and we wanted to add some sort of vintage lightbulb pendant to our repertoire, but it had to fit our ethos. So we researched vintage lighting patterns and we pondered… and got nowhere.
Until we picked up a pair of beautiful vintage wall lights with swan necks, by the estimable Revo (perhaps our favourite vintage lighting comany – always top-quality and wildly striking design).
What if we removed the arm and hanged the light as a well glass? The vintage lightbulb will now be cased in glass – which can only look more impressive – and housed beneath a Revo-branded aluminium hood, dating from the 1950s.
A few samples and tweaks later, we love the end result. Call it ‘modern retro lighting’, call it ‘upgraded industrial’ – we’ve gone with Upgraded Industrial Vintage Lightbulb Pendant – it is gorgeous!
The glass is hand-blown, to keep the weight down. The housing is cast aluminium retaining the original Revo branding. The two sections come apart, the E27 Edison screw filament lightbulb is screwed in, the glass returned, and the sections then tightened together by a pair of contrasting brass wing-nuts.
The classic A19 Edison vintage lightbulb fits perfectly; we’ve used a long T45 filament bulb for the one in our Fowey lighting shop window (see image).
We’ve wired them with 2m of braided flex, rather than the usual 1m, as these hanging vintage lightbulbs are often swag-hanged. The flex comes in a choice of brown, grey or red.
No chain or wire is required to hold the weight of the light as we’ve added tiny nylon clamps at the ceiling rose and housing, which tighten onto the flex.
Restaurant refit? Bar lighting design project? Or do you just want to show off in your home? You can because we’ve kept the price as low as possible – just £55 + VAT each – to make these affordable in numbers.
We’re very proud of this latest addition to Any Old Lights’ Modern Retro lighting stable – and we have several new surprises in store in the coming months – do let us know what you think. Any questions, please ask away!
