Opal

The story

Born in the sixties, built for tonight.

Close up and across the room: how the Opal is made, and how it behaves once the sun goes down.

Up close

Opal glass, not plastic

Look closely and the glass is milky rather than clear: the bulb disappears and the whole sphere becomes the light source. That is why you can look straight at it without squinting, and why it never throws a hard shadow on the wall.

From across the room

A shape that holds a room together

The sphere-and-ring silhouette comes straight from the sixties, when lighting was drawn like furniture. Placed beside a low sofa, it anchors the corner in daylight and takes over from the ceiling once the sun drops.

Built to stand

Floor-standing, not a table trinket

The polished chrome frame stands 120 cm tall with 40 cm spheres, weighted at the base so it stays put on a rug. It reads as a piece of furniture, sized to sit beside a sofa or an armchair rather than perch on a side table.

After dark

The light you keep on late

Warm, natural or cold white: you pick the temperature when you order. At the warm end it does the job of a bedside lamp for a whole room, soft enough to leave on while everyone winds down.