White glass or painted glass under the gold frame? White glass lights the room; painted glass decorates it. More than half the gold ceiling lights here carry glass, often a 30 to 50 cm bowl with two or three bulbs.
Gold or brass ceiling light: the gilt finish that goes with your other metals
Antique, burnished or heritage brass is the most common brass here, brown in the recesses. Brushed or satin brass, even and paler, is rarer. Gold leaf and 24-carat gold, used on the crystal and painted-glass fittings, shine outright. Follow the finish of the handles, taps and frames already in the room. A black and gold model ties in with black fittings elsewhere.
The glass beneath the frame decides the light
- Opal bowl. It hides the bulbs and spreads light everywhere.
- LED disc of 50 to 60 cm. It claims up to 3,600 lm, enough to light 20 m² on its own.
- Painted glass with stags, fruit or flowers, on a few models. It filters some of the light and is there to be looked at; go one size up, or add wall lights.
- Amber glass. It turns a room yellow.
- Crystal. It breaks the light into sparkles, with clear bulbs of 400 lm each at most and a dimmer.
Standard bulbs or integrated LED, then diameter and weight
Most gold ceiling lights take standard bulbs. You set the colour yourself, 2,700 K in the lounge and bedroom, 3,000 K in the hall and kitchen, and choose bulbs marked dimmable if there's a dimmer; they are not in the box unless the product page says so. The others have integrated LED, colour fixed when you buy, rated for 15,000 to 30,000 hours, module not replaceable.
For the diameter, add the room's length and width in metres and multiply by 8. That gives 55 cm for 3 × 4 m and 70 cm for 4 × 5 m. Over 5 kg, with crystal drops or brass arms, use fixings suited to the ceiling. A gilt finish is wiped with a dry cloth and no cleaning product.
What we'd steer you away from: amber glass in a dark room, non-dimmable integrated LED above a bed, and shiny gold among stainless steel handles. Crystal drops have a page of their own, crystal ceiling lights. Patterned bowls on brass frames are among the classic ceiling lights, rings and discs among the designer ceiling lights. The same finish as a pendant is under gold pendant lights, and every colour under ceiling lights.
To match a gilt finish to your handles before you order, call +33 9 70 46 66 67, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm UK time; delivery is free in the UK and the European Union, with 30 days to change your mind.
