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“You made my first chandelier project very do-able Thank you”

I know in the past that I have shared customers restoration projects with you, with their consent of course, but I wanted to share the comments received in an email earlier this week just in case you had been toying with the idea of restoring a chandelier, wall lights, crystal shade etc but had been put off because you did not know where to start.

If you are reading this blog then you have started your journey as you are googling chandelier companies, chandelier repair, chandelier parts etc, don’t be hesitant in taking the next step as it is not as daunting as you may think (or as expensive) and we are here to help.

The comments in the email read “Thank you once again for your help, you have made my first chandelier project very do-able and I hope the finished product does all your work justice.”

So you may be wondering what help we gave, the help that was extended is help we offer all our customers, from private individuals to trade customers – traditional customer service, providing the type of support that we like extended to ourselves. The opportunity to speak to a human and not AI and to interact with the same individual each time so that you do not need to keep recapping the issue to gain a resolution.

After we were contacted via email enquiring about availability of some crystal buttons and beads he had identified he needed from our website but in alternative sizes to those shown, we were able to interact with him via telephone and email. After a check of our stock, we have a large amount that has not yet found it’s way on to our website, we were able to confirm availability of some of sizes and suggestions on substitutions where sizes of buttons slightly differed to his original pieces. This enabled him to purchase the parts he needed, on this occasion this is extra special as the chandeliers have sentimental meaning to him.

This is support we offer our customers every day and it varies daily on the form of assistance required. From National Trust curators confirming suitability on chain and candle tubes, customers at the very beginning of their chandelier journey as described above to enquiries regarding delivery lead times, bespoke candle tubes and thread sizes. We are here to support you with your project and would much prefer for you to reach out to us if you have a query rather than for you to decide not to proceed because it is too daunting/expensive or that your query is “silly” – your question may be a question we have been asked previously and makes us realise that we need to address the query in a blog for others!

If you don’t want to reach out to us personally start off with a visit to our website which includes a “How To Video Tutorial Page”, https://www.kingschandeliers.co.uk/video-tutorials.html a range of blogs covering topics such as “What is a Bobeche”, “Different methods of chandelier pinning”, “Chandelier drop names” and much more. We are also updating our website to include more information and assistance on our product listings but this takes time so please if you cannot find the answer to your question in our videos or blogs or you cannot see the chandelier part you need contact us via email info@kingschandeliers.co.uk or call us on 01206332938.

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Is Your Lighting Ready For Winter Evenings And the Christmas Festives ?

We have been a little quiet on the social media side for a couple of months but only because we have been busy in the background with new products, exciting projects and extending our bespoke glass services together with our chandelier cleaning services, all of which will be covered over the forthcoming months.

As the nights draw in and the festive season approaches the lighting industry, including ourselves, get busier (who wants to worry too much about lighting during the summer months!) and this brings enquiries from customers asking how they can get their chandeliers and lighting ready for those cosy evening and festive celebrations.

With this in mind I thought I would re-share one of our earlier blogs we wrote about some of the comments and questions that we receive from customers about their chandeliers and the misconception that they may have in the cost refurbishing or repairing them.

Whilst references are made to revitalising your chandelier this blog is also appropriate for crystal and glass shades, candelabra etc.

For some of our customers chandeliers are a hobby, for some a business, others may have inherited them from family members or with a property they have purchased and others they are in a place of work. The ideas below range from costing relatively little to the more expensive and from needing no experience to perhaps requiring professional services. I may have covered an idea in a more detailed blog and if so I will pop in a link to the blog and/or links to our website.

  1. Clean your chandelier, you will be surprised what a difference it can make and it doesn’t cost very much if you are able to do it yourself! A regular customer called me in the week to say she had purchased a chandelier from an online auction thinking it was made up of Amber crystals and when she received it and started to clean it it was heavily nicotine stained and a most gorgeous piece. We regularly see the same thing and covered this in a blog some years ago https://kingschandeliers.wordpress.com/page/3/
chandelier crystals AFTER cleaning
chandelier crystals BEFORE cleaning

2. Now your chandelier is sparkling clean hopefully you will have fallen back in love with it. Now you can look to see if any of the crystals are missing. This does not need to be expensive and our website has a large selection starting from relatively little, https://www.kingschandeliers.co.uk/chandelier-parts-and-accessories.html

3. So your chandelier is lovely and clean but your candle tubes are letting it down by being grubby, damaged or just not the finish you are looking to show. Our range of candle tubes include glass, card, metal and plastic in different colours and finishes. Our website features gold gild, black, cream, white, magnolia, antique and modern finishes in red, green, blue, yellow, orange, pink. These colours are exclusive to ourselves – need a colour not shown on our website? Contact us we may be able to do other colours!

Don’t discard your chandelier if you have redecorated your room, above we have covered 3 of the cheapest and easier ways of revitalising your chandelier, cleaning, replacing missing crystals and new candle tubes but there are other things you can do:-

  1. If your chandelier has a chain you could replace this (please make sure you know the weight first) If your chandelier doesn’t currently have a chain can the height of your room accommodate the chandelier hanging lower from the ceiling https://www.kingschandeliers.co.uk/chandelier-chains,-hooks-and-shackles/
  2. We sell a large range of ceiling roses and ceiling hook plates in both traditional and modern colours, again you need to know the weight of your chandelier or light fitting (they look great with the tiffany style fly catcher shades) This will help make a focal point on your ceiling https://www.kingschandeliers.co.uk/ceiling-roses,-ceiling-plate-hooks/ although not essential you could top this off with one of our hand turned wooden ceiling pattress’ (great for covering marks left from removing a previous light fitting) https://www.kingschandeliers.co.uk/wooden-pattresses,-ceiling-roses,-fittings/
  3. If you do not have experience with electrics this one is a bit more expensive if you require an electrician but changing the electrical cable to a colour complimenting your decor is another option, our website features many colours and we are happy to discuss these with you to help you make your choice
  4. If you want to change the look of your chandelier or bring a bit more bling to the room you can look at changing some of the crystals or introduce more to the style – the colours produced by our crystals will give you rainbows across the room when hit by the sunshine – pop some of our crystal suncatchers in your windows and the colours will bounce around the room https://www.kingschandeliers.co.uk/feng-shui-crystal-sun-catchers/
  5. I have left this one until last just because it is more time consuming and takes a bit of practise if you have not done anything similar in the past, chandelier crystal pinning. Repinning your chandelier can either be done in pins, rings or bow tie clips. Our “How To” video’s feature one on pinning https://www.kingschandeliers.co.uk/chandelier-repairs-and-restoration.html

Many of our customers who have restored their own chandeliers have found that they love this new hobby and turn it into an additional income, buying from ourselves there is not a minimum order level, we have a lifetime customer loyalty discount scheme and many of our products are postage free.

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Chandelier Drop Names – Part One

What are my chandelier drops called – it can be quite daunting when searching the internet for replacement chandelier drops and pendants as you may not be familiar with the terminology and companies may refer to pieces by a variation of names. This can be due to a variety of reasons, there are a lot of variations of similar style drops and pendants, some companies may use original French and Italian names but with different spellings and of course when advertising the search engines do not like websites to duplicate their product names excessively. For example slab drops come in so many variety’s that a play on words may be needed.
We recognise that with more people shopping online and less physical shops to personally choose your chandelier drops it can be frustrating, and following a request from one of our interior designer customers we have started putting together some product name identifiers so show some of the names we use on our website with photo examples.
We have many more pieces on our website and in our workshops so please contact us for further details or forward photos of the pieces you are looking to match to – our stocks are genuine vintage and antique pieces not reproduction.

Visit our website to view our extensive range of chandelier spares, parts and accessories, our website is suitable for everyday lighting projects as well as chandeliers, lamps, candelabra etc. https://www.kingschandeliers.co.uk/chandelier-parts-and-accessories.html

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Lamp Holder Types And Safety Features

For today’s blog I have decided to combine a few of our most frequently asked questions about lamp holders and so have structured this on a Q and A layout.

  • Q.1 This is a question, though not asked outright, is one that is skirted around – why are your lamp holders a bit more expensive?
  • A.1. The majority of our lamp holders are manufactured in the UK with a small amount being manufactured in Italy, Italy is renowned for their expertise in the lighting industry, allowing us direct contact with our manufacturers We do not import our lamp holders from China or the Far East. All products stocked by ourselves are products we are happy to use on our own restorations

  • Q.4. What is the difference between a threaded skirt lamp holder and plain skirt lamp holder?
  • A.4. Plain skirt lamp holders speak for themselves, the body of the lamp holder is plain without ridges, this lamp holder cannot be used with a lamp shade. A threaded skirt lamp holder is suitable for pairing with a lamp shade, the body of the lamp holder (skirt) has a thread running around the entire body length. Dependant on the style of the lamp holder there will either be one fixed shade ring and one removable shade ring or two removable shade rings. Please note when purchasing threaded skirt lamp holders from ourselves you will receive the number of shade rings required with the lamp holder, not all companies supply the shade rings or may supply one only expecting you to purchase shade rings separately. If you do need extra shade rings we do sell these separate to the lamp holder.
  • Q.5. Why do I need shade rings with my lamp holder?
  • A.5. You would use the threaded skirt lamp holder with shade rings if you are using a lamp shade, a lamp shade gallery or lamp shade clip. The shade rings clamp the gallery/lamp shade in place, one ring above the gallery opening and one below (ensure you purchase the correct lamp holder for your gallery/shade opening)
  • Q.6. What does it mean when it says the lamp holder has a 10mm, 13mm or half inch thread?
  • A.6. The lamp holder generally has a female thread to allow it to screw onto a receiving thread (known as the male thread as it is inserted into the lamp holder) e.g. on a lamp or a chandelier arm. You need to know the thread size of the male thread to determine which lamp holder to purchase. You can use what we call the “nut test”, get a nut that you know the size of and try fastening this to your male thread, if it fits great, if not you will know whether you need to test with a larger or smaller nut to determine the size. If your thread is an imperial or unusual thread you may wish to consider changing the receiving thread to M10, the most common size used, we stock this in various length sizes https://www.kingschandeliers.co.uk/threaded-rod-nuts-washers-and-metal-components/4/0/
  • Q.7. Are your lamp holders earthed?
  • A.7. The majority of our lamp holders are earthed and both the product description and photos should detail the position of the earth, either internal or external. Unearthed lamp holders will specify they are unearthed and if they specify 2 core electric cable use only they will be unearthed. If using unearthed lamp holders please check with your electrician if you need to earth at an alternative place on your light fitting.
  • Q.8. Screw in or push in terminals?
  • A.8. This is how your electrical cable is connected within the lamp holder and is down to personal preference although many lamp holders only come with the one option choice
  • Q.9. What are the safety features?
  • A.9. Lamp holders are now designed to reduce the risk of electrocution for the young and vulnerable. If you assemble your lamp holder before wiring in the electrics you will find it is locked to stop someone reaching the electrical elements when the lightbulb has been removed. We have a video on our website showing how to unlock your lamp holders, whilst the video features an E27 lamp holder the principle is the same for other lamp holders https://www.kingschandeliers.co.uk/video-tutorials.html The earthing of lamp holders has been covered in answer 7.
  • Q10. Should I use 2 core or 3 core electric cable?
  • A10. If you are using metal lamp holders you should use 3 core electrical cable, if you are using plastic lamp holders then 2 core electrical cable. If you are in doubt check with your electrician or contact us before placing your order 01206332938.
How To Unlock Your Lamp Holder
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What Are The Parts Of A Chandelier Called?

The word chandelier derives from the French word which itself is derived from a Latin word and entered the English language in 1736. You will find that the parts of a chandelier may be known by several names and with Google being used by many to search for parts for their chandeliers these names will appear more or less frequently than others. There will also be some differences dependant on the type and style of your chandelier, whether it is crystal, brass or glass, antique or modern.

Pendants, Lustres, Prisms and chandelier arms are going to be some of the most common names you will come across. To help with some of the basic terminology used on our website I have linked below the chandelier sketch that we show on our website.

Chandelier diagram part names Top Canopy crystal chains candle tubes bobeche chandelier arm

We also have an information page on our website that details the names and terminology in more detail, with a brief description of the purpose/use of each part. This page can be viewed at https://www.kingschandeliers.co.uk/Parts-of-a-Chandelier.html This page also features links to the relevant section on our website for allow easy ordering.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us by telephone, 01206332938, or email us via https://www.kingschandeliers.co.uk/contact.html

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Buying Direct From King’s Chandelier Services Ltd

As the UK gradually comes out of lockdown we all continue to face individual challenges and consumers are being urged to buy local as much as they can and to support UK business but we are not always being told the advantages of doing this so I thought today I would outline the advantages of buying direct from King’s Chandelier Services Ltd.

I started writing this blog whilst on hold for an unreasonable length of time after being transferred from one department to another feeling rather frustrated as I could not speak to the same person I had spoken to several days earlier!

As a family business we endeavour to keep in mind the type of things that we appreciate when dealing with business’ and those that frustrate us.

On a day to day basis it would be myself, Nikki, that you speak with or communicate with via email this is so that I can familiarise myself with your projects, queries and orders and hopefully reduce any frustration from repeating details. It also gives you one point of contact, using this system we have been able to assist customers with repeat orders, specialist parts coming into stock and having the flexibility to speak to customers outside of standard office hours and arranging next day deliveries.

When you order from ourselves not only will you receive the personal customer service you can be assured that the products that your purchase are all items that Andy either uses when restoring chandeliers or has tested before allowing them to be sold by ourselves.

Our electrical cables are UK manufactured and in the main our lamp holders, ceiling roses and metal turned parts are also UK manufactured, we only stock components that Andy would use whether from our economy ranges or our elite ranges.

Our antique chandelier crystal parts are genuine parts to help retain chandelier valuations, new production parts are detailed in a separate category.

We are happy to assist you in choosing the parts and components for your lighting projects, assistance prior to purchase can reduce purchase errors.

Purchasing direct rather than via a third party allows you to speak to us personally, this is not something that is permitted when using a third party site . It will allow you to benefit from exclusive website deals and provide more flexibility on order exchanges and alterations as we can be more flexible on direct orders. Direct orders count towards our Lifetime Customer Loyalty Discount Scheme.

Our website is a member of the Trusted Commerce Scheme. We are at the end of the telephone line (01206332938) or email, info@kingschandeliers.co.uk

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Help in ordering from our website

Not everyone is confident using the internet and placing orders on line so we thought we would put together a short information video, believe these are called infographic videos! A learning curve for ourselves putting this together but hopefully it helps and we are available to take telephone orders if you prefer.

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Celebrating Our Modern Chandelier Crystal

At King’s Chandelier Services Ltd we are well known for our range of antique chandelier crystals but not always recognised as selling high quality modern chandelier crystal and coloured crystal so thought we would do a post dedicated to it.

Click here for full range

 

 

 

 

 

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Lifetime Discount Scheme is launched

Everyone likes to be appreciated and to know their custom is valued and so to show our customers, new and old, our appreciation we have launched a Lifetime Discount Scheme.

Our discounts do not have an expiry date, once you have achieved a qualifying spend threshold the discount will automatically be applied to your order and each order thereafter – all the customer needs to do is ensure that they use the same email address when placing orders with us as the email address is automatically monitored to calculate the accrued spend.*

Discounts become applicable when the customers accrued qualifying spend, excluding carriage, reaches £150.00 and has three tiers in total with the discount increasing at each new threshold.  It does not matter if the customer does not order regularly the system will remember you and you will receive an email confirming when you reach a new discount level.  Please note refunds and partial refunds will be deducted from the accrued spend as appropriate.

The discount scheme is available to customers using the website or placing orders by telephone and  is not limited to UK customers only it is open to all our customers, as a thank you for their continued custom.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for further details or to place an order.

*If you change your email address you can update this in your account or alternatively you can contact us so we can update it for you.

 

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Push in terminal lamp holders – how to wire them

If you have visited our lamp holder sections on our website you may have looked at our push in terminal lamp holders and wondered how to wire this should you purchase them.

We have a few “How To” videos on our website and one of these feature wiring push in terminal lamp holders; please find the link to our restoration page on our website which includes the video relating to wiring push in terminal lamp holders.

How to wire a chandelier arm/push wire terminal lamp holder

SES E14 Lamp Holder