Light Conversation — Restoration Files

Restoration Files - Lovely Leaves 0

This crystal chandelier came to us in good condition. We dismantled it, cleaned and rewired it.  

Note the lovely leaves and blown crystal bells. 

Restoration Files - Flowers 0

This pretty chandelier needed quite a bit of rejuvenation.  We completely dismantled it and cleaned every aspect - including restringing the beads and flowers.  

Before:

Richie cleaning and repairing the body of the chandelier:

Work on the beading and flowers:

And done!

Everyone did a great job on this!

Restoration Files: From Florida 0

We’ve been working hard on restorations – so hard we haven’t taken any before and after photos!

Here is an after:

And, the lovely words from our customer:

Hi Nancy:
We received the chandelier all safe and sound and finally found an electrician to hang it. Best of all we got all the crystals in the right spot, I think… If not, nobody will know and it’s beautiful. You guys did such a great job. We’ve had it crated for over 5 years because we couldn’t find anyone to repair it and we’re so glad we found King’s. It looks beautiful in our home. Thank you so much for doing such an outstanding job!!!

Restoration Files: Spears! 0

Some beautiful spear point prisms came to “The Shop” on this project.  They are a plain spear point prism, full-cut, but with a cut-out of a smaller, spear point prism on one side. They look like two layers of prisms.  Visually so much fun and the kind of prism you would build a chandelier around just to keep.

Like most of our smaller projects, this one was a box of parts dug out of the attic.  This project starts with a frame that needs some polishing and a bit of lacquer. There were only 8 holes drilled in the original for crystal strands, so we didn’t add any more.

The piece apparently had included a crystal bobeche in the center (now missing) and prisms at the top.  The customer requested a single socket, no more, so we just added the one, although as thick as the crystals were at the bottom, 3 would have worked as well.

Our Motto: Keep EVERYTHING

Around King’s Chandelier, we NEVER throw anything away, even if it is chipped or discolored.  You never know what you may need, or what someone may want.

Not sure how old this group of parts are, but that bowl is pretty darn old! The contents of that old bowl provided us with what we needed to match the existing points and stars.

Once they were cleaned up, they were gorgeous and looked original to the fixture.

The finished chandelier was exactly what the customer wanted.  At King’s Chandelier, we are always happy to deliver.

Restoration Files: 16 Lights 0

A long-time customer purchased this lovely lady for his historic register home, and what a mess it was! The first problem was a frame that needed polishing.

The second problem was a box full of unlabeled, unwashed, and barely wrapped crystal. I’m always amazed at how badly sellers can pack crystal. But, nothing was broken, so it could have been so much worse. As it was, it was more like a 3D puzzle. Just a small challenge.

The arms on this fixture are hollow, squared pipe – not as sturdy as one would think. That, combined with the ridges in the pipe, dictated that everything had to be polished by hand, which looks better in the end – a nice, satin finish is usually the result. After the entire fixture was disassembled, Richie polished the brass frame by hand, added new electrical components, cleaned the crystal breaks, and reassembled the fixture.

Next, we tackled the crystal trimmings. There were a total of eight different styles of prisms – some of which looked original to the fixture and were quite striking. Some soaking, polishing, and re-pinning and they were all beautiful again.

The origin of this chandelier is a bit unclear. It definitely retains some original gas elements, but the upper candles were added, perhaps when the fixture was originally wired. You can see the drilled holes in the lower and the upper arms – with the electrical running on the outside of the scrolled portion of the upper arms. The stem had been modified as well, with the crystal breaks being a more modern addition. Like many affordable antiques, it is a mixture of periods. Eclectic and lovely.

If you like old homes.. 0