With the current turn toward neoclassicism plus a post-pandemic pendulum swing from humble and homey to glittering and glam, the style direction for lighting design couldn’t be more clear: Crystal is the material of the moment, bestowing intoxicating sparkles wherever it’s placed. Anticipating this aesthetic sea change, lighting experts Visual Comfort & Co. symbolically crossed the Atlantic to pair with its first European partner, a world-renowned manufacturer that has celebrated the possibilities of crystal since its founding in Waterford City, Ireland, in 1783. Combining the Houston-based company’s technological brilliance with breathtaking, centuries-old Irish craftsmanship, the dazzling debut collection of pendants, lamps, sconces and chandeliers magically bridges the traditional and the modern.
“Working with Waterford, we have completely diversified the definition of crystal lighting,” says Corbin Philhower, director of design development at Visual Comfort. “It’s no longer this lavish, formal fixture with ornaments suspended from it. Every single detail is intended to maximize the light.” The new profiles emphasize refractions through large-scale, intricately hand-carved crystal globes, shades and cones; clean, ice-like slices of pressed-crystal panes; and even heavy, beveled-glass gemstones as big as the palm of your hand. “Every single piece is etched with the Waterford name or insignia,” adds Philhower. Internally, each style has its own dedicated light source: LEDs are ingeniously integrated into the framework—barely detectable to the naked eye in the case of Carraig chandeliers; dispersed by a custom-made crystal diffuser in Blaze table and floor lamps; or even enclosed in an additional, multifoot-long column of crystal to further amplify the output of Killarney chandeliers.
Of the five families in this first collection, all crystal components are designed by Waterford, with three—Blaze, Copper Coast and Circon—hand-blown and -carved by master artisans on-site in Ireland. Visual Comfort produces the pressed panes for the Carraig and Killarney silhouettes, and all fixtures are completed at its facilities in Texas. “The hardware in the Waterford collection is solid brass, and the finish is exclusive to Visual Comfort,” says Philhower. “It’s one of our signature iconic details.” A dark bronze framework adds a “warmer, slightly more masculine tone” to a profile. Polished nickel feels fresh and cool. And natural brass complements the crystal elements with its golden glow.
As beautiful as the new designs are, Visual Comfort’s partnership with Waterford is not strictly an artistic one. The opportunities to sell the line are borderless, and the collaboration extends to the two brands’ distribution channels, with Visual Comfort having opened its first European store in Chelsea Harbour’s Design Centre a few years ago and planning to expand its London showroom footprint in 2025. “All the pieces in the collection can ship anywhere in the world. They’re certified and ready to go,” says Philhower. For Waterford’s broad customer base, the chance to have a chic crystal table lamp—never mind a chandelier that evokes the ones in Westminster Abbey—will likely prove as irresistible as a pot of gold to a leprechaun. And this is just the beginning. “We have about 10 new families in development that we’ll be introducing in the months ahead,” he says. When it comes to luxury Waterford crystal effortlessly suspended by Visual Comfort’s sleek frameworks and illuminated by its expertise, the future looks bright indeed. Below, Philhower describes what makes each of the five profiles of the inaugural collection so special.
COPPER COAST
Inspired by the mining heritage of County Waterford’s wild coastline, the Copper Coast series accentuates crystal’s capacity to bend light beams through different cuts. Customers can choose a softly scalloped olive-shaped pattern, diamond-sharp karo incisions, or a combination of the two in a pair of conical crystal shades that point horizontally outward to create a 15-inch double-sided pendant. “What’s absolutely amazing about this Copper Coast design is that, viewed from the side, you see straight through from one crystal bowl to the other,” says Philhower. “There’s no visible support structure or hardware, just complete transparency. It gives this breathtaking, almost endless depth and sparkle.” The secret to the illusion of infinity—and of self-generated illumination—can be found in Visual Comfort’s custom clamp suspension framework, which features a kind of vertical “belly band” where the LED light source is deftly embedded. In its 12-inch accent light iteration, a single crystal shade capped by brass becomes the most scintillating desktop bauble imaginable.
BLAZE
The iconic spire of the Chrysler Building informs the art deco–influenced Blaze line, which includes portable, battery-powered table and floor lamps, as well as single- and double-arm sconces. “The 55-inch floor lamp is a streamlined design with perfect proportions, between the modern base and stem; the custom diffuser surrounding the diode; and a sparkling, hand-cut crystal shade that adds a bit of unexpected detail to the piece,” says Philhower. He compares the intricate vertically cut lines to the stemware that first made Waterford famous: “We’ve flipped it upside down and integrated it.” On the top of the crystal shade is a simple metal coin that functions as a soft-touch dimmer in lieu of a more obtrusive light switch. “Simply tap it for low, medium or high light,” he says. The balance of glamour and modernity makes the Blaze series an eye-catching element in any scheme, upping the luxe factor in traditional interiors and providing a twinkly contrast to otherwise sparse minimalist spaces.
CIRCON
At the tip of the Hook Peninsula in southeastern Ireland’s County Wexford, the Hook Head Lighthouse has been guiding sailors safely back to shore since 1172. Circon’s handblown crystal globes echo the concentric rings of the lighthouse’s famed Fresnel lens. “The end is entirely flat,” says Philhower of the cuts in both the 5-inch pendant and 7-inch accent lamp. “Then the rings vary slightly in distance as they traverse the circumference of the crystal, creating an additional sense of depth.” This movement is magnified by a vertical crystal optic on the inside that “carries the light throughout the piece.” Displaying the profile in multiples compounds the hypnotic effect. “While the pendant is only 5 inches around, when you cluster five, 10, 15 spheres, you get so much sparkle and bounce through these perfectly cut crystal rings,” he says. The same is true for a grouping of the slightly larger accent lamp, scattered across a console or straight down the center of a formally dressed dining room table instead of standard taper candles. “Like a modern-day tea light, it produces a soft, welcoming glow,” he notes. “It’s an adorable, portable beacon.”
KILLARNEY
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Guinness family’s gift of 16 Waterford crystal chandeliers to Westminster Abbey to commemorate the church’s founding 900 years prior. In three reimaginings, the scale and visual impact are just as impressive as the original’s, but the shapes are strikingly modern. “The 19-inch layered entry chandelier is a little deceiving, for example, because while the measurement refers to the diameter of the piece, it’s actually 62 inches tall,” says Philhower. The technology behind the illumination is wholly 21st century as well. At the center of the construction, an LED encased in a column of faceted crystal runs the full length of the piece. Light from the diode is first refracted by this core, then further dispersed in all different directions by the hundreds of individual, hand-cut panes of pressed glass that encircle each tier. “They’re notched at the top, and the frame has slots to receive them, so each crystal segment will always be perfectly placed and secure within the profile,” he says. The tall, skinny 19-inch version of the design, which is also available in 32-inch layered and drum silhouettes, is particularly suited to the double-height ceilings of today’s foyers, but despite its slender silhouette, the proportions still exactly match those of the chandeliers in the London landmark. The craftsmen who made them in the mid-1960s did so in secret, under the code name “Operation Killarney,” which gives Visual Comfort’s series its moniker. To honor that history with a wink, the modern-day team referred to its own development project as “Westminster.”
CARRAIG
If crystals grew on trees, Carraig is what those glittering branches would look like. Gaelic for “rock,” the word aptly describes the hefty gemstones that bloom from the ends of polished brass arms in this mobile-like, midcentury-influenced duo of chandeliers: the 53-inch version featuring five sparklers and the 65-inch width displaying seven, all weighing several pounds apiece. “The delicate-looking frame is hand-sculpted by our artisans,” says Philhower. “The edges and corners are not razor-precise, and that’s intentional, because we wanted the branches to have some organic softness in contrast with the sharp, hand-cut crystals.” Each nugget nests in a slightly suspended polished nickel plate that completely conceals its light source—a recessed LED on the underside of the prism. “The crystal heads create an optical illusion: If you were to look directly down into one, you wouldn’t see the diode, only your own reflection,” he adds. Hand-chamfered, or -beveled, edges augment the refraction to bedazzling effect. “The cuts create the sparkle,” he says. Arguably the most transcendent design in the collection, reframing Waterford’s traditional material in such a surprisingly avant-garde way, it opens up the opportunities for crystal in all-new configurations. “It’s a true testament to our collaboration with Waterford,” Philhower notes. “We touch hundreds of thousands of fixtures at Visual Comfort, and the Carraig is unlike anything else within our assortment or the marketplace. It’s such a unique piece.” He predicts it will be one of the most popular profiles in the collection—and it’s one of his personal favorites. “I’d love it in my own dining room!” he says.
This story is a paid promotion and was created in partnership with Visual Comfort & Co.
Homepage image: A conical Waterford crystal shade capped by brass makes the Copper Coast rechargeable accent light a glittering addition to any desktop | Courtesy of Visual Comfort
