Pipes and crystal? I’m intrigued – tell me more
What are the differences between the three chandelier collections?
What’s been the reaction so far?
Are they easy to install?
What kind of crystal do you use?
How quickly can you deliver?
Where can I see MMD lighting?
What’s the MM Signature Crystal?
Is there a catalog?
I’m pretty handy — do you think I could make one of these lights myself?
Pipes and crystal? I’m intrigued – tell me more
Industrial pipes and fittings possess a simple recognizable geometry which we see all around us in our built environment but our brains have been trained to ignore. Michael McHale Designs has harnessed that simple geometry to create lighting fixtures which are at once familiar and intuitive, yet utterly new. By “re-staging” ordinary materials to occupy honorific areas of the built environment, McHale lights celebrate the beauty of the ordinary objects all around us.
There is an “of course!” quality to McHale lighting which will ensure its aesthetic relevance for decades to come.
What are the differences between the three chandelier collections?
INDUSTRIAL COLLECTION: Re-purposed industrial elements are re-configured to make new, intuitive lighting forms and then contrasted with fine European crystal to re-define the traditional notion of the chandelier. They are owned by tastemakers and design mavens all over the world. Each piece is made-to-order.
THE BRYCE COLLECTION: We make all the lighting forms of the Industrial Collection, but use our own hardware, which is hand-milled from recycled aluminum, giving a refined, abstracted industrial look. Each piece is made to order.
THE TRIBECA COLLECTION: Smaller-gauge pipes and fittings are paired with simple crystal configurations to create the most affordable line of artisan lighting available anywhere. Tribeca Chandeliers are designed to be hung on their own or in groups to make as big a statement as you’d like. These are simpler pieces than our custom fixtures, and we make them in bulk, so we can offer them to you for at surprisingly reasonable prices.
What’s been the reaction so far?
It has ranged from wildly enthusiastic to apoplectically positive. People really love this work. To read some of what the press has had to say about us, click here.
Definitely. Easy-to-follow instructions are included with all our lighting. If you’d rather not do it yourself (and if you live in or close to our home base in New York City), you can take advantage of our installation service. Ask us for the details.
What kind of crystal do you use?
All our crystal lighting is made with super-fine quality Bohemian crystal. This crystal is is fully leaded (around 30% – the optimal level for light refraction) and is what is called “optically pure”.
Optical purity is achieved during the cooling process of making crystal. Most crystal, when it is made, is allowed to cool naturally, which means it cools like a cake would (cooling faster on the inside than the outside). The disparity in temperatures results in tiny striations, which you can see on close inspection. These slight striations slightly distort the path of light passing through the crystal. It’s a subtle but becomes very apparent once you are aware of it.
As an option, we offer all our crystal chandeliers, lamps, and sconces in 100% Swarovski Strass crystal, which is the finest crystal available. While this option increases the price of each piece considerably, many customers are pleased with their investment.
All colored crystal accents which we offer are Swarovski Strass crystal. We have found that when it comes to colored crystal, no other crystal compares to Swarovski Strass when it comes to brilliance, clarity, and vibrancy. As a result, we must charge a small uplift for the colored accent crystal option in all our chandeliers, lamps, and sconces.
Tribeca Collection pieces are ready-to-ship and can usually be shipped within 48 hours (unless we’ve run out, in which case give us a week or so). Industrial Collection and Bryce Collection pieces are made-to-order, so please allow 4-9 weeks for delivery. If you have a particular deadline you need to meet, please let us know. We can usually arrange things to meet your deadline.
A number of showrooms represent our work throughout the country. There is a list of them on our contact page which you can see here.
Whilst almost everyone we’ve spoken to thinks that McHale Chandeliers, lamps and sconces are more spectacular in real life, the pictures we’ve got still give a very good sense of what they are like. Please have a look at the photographs we’ve put on on the sites of our collections, or check out our slide show by clicking here. We’ve put even more photographs on Picasa, which you can click on our widgets section on the upper right of your screen, or by clicking here.
What’s the MM Signature Crystal?
This is a special Swarovski Strass Crystal which we have specially lasered with our initials that recapitulate our logo (which you can see at the top of the page). A chandelier crystal signifying a brand of crystal chandelier, it is the ultimate luxury hang tag. The MM Signature Crystal serves as a hang tag, assigning pedigree to these handmade, genre-redefining chandeliers in a way that transcends their furniture category. As Richard Wise, former Vice-Chairman of the iconic New York advertising agency Agent 16 notes: “This takes a lighting fixture and elevates it to the status of signed art.”
The best and most up-to-date information on our products is here on the website. You can print out the entry for each particular product as a one-sheet, or you can sort by category and print out information on all products we offer in that category (make sure to click “grid” view).
I’m pretty handy — do you think I could make one of these lights myself?
Do-it-yourself chandeliers have become a fairly popular topic in recent years. Since we started, a few people have seen the work were inspired to replicate what they saw themselves, with varying degrees of success. Since we at MMD are committed to green design, we can only encourage anyone who who has some extra time, a workshop and the right tools to give it a go, especially if you have reclaimed materials or crystals from maybe an old chandelier which you wish to re-stage into something beautiful.
While we have no do-it-yourself kit or directions, but we would be happy to offer assistance via email to anyone who wants to try to make one themselves.
Obviously, The Bryce Collection is made out of our own hand-milled recycled aluminum hardware, so it wouldn’t be possible to do them at home.
You may find that, if you price out the time, materials, and effort it would take to get something together you’re happy with — especially if you’re buying as good a quality of crystal as we do in the small quantities you would need, you may find that it would be more cost-effective to go with one of our pieces, especially our very reasonably-priced consumer brand, The Tribeca Collection.
