How to Specify a Spanish Alabaster Chandelier: Size, Veining, Finish and Drop

An alabaster chandelier is specified twice: once as a light fitting, and once as a piece of stone. The first part is familiar to every designer: diameter, drop, lamping, mounting. The second decides how the room feels at nine in the evening, when the stone is lit from within and every vein shows. This guide covers both, using the Spanish alabaster ring and tiered chandeliers we make to order in our workshop.

Start with the room, then choose the diameter

Over a dining table, a single ring of roughly half the table's length sits in proportion, and the lowest element hangs 75 to 90 cm (30 to 35″) above the surface. In a hall or a double-height living room, the reference becomes the volume of the space and the points from which the piece is seen: the front door, the landing, the sofa below.

Dining rooms and kitchen islands

The Anello is a single continuous ring of Spanish alabaster, cut by hand from one block and hung on fine stainless-steel cables from a canopy in solid brass or black stainless steel. It comes in seven diameters, from 40 cm (15.7″) to 150 cm (59″). The 80 cm (31.5″) ring suits a table of about 130 to 170 cm (51 to 67″); the 100 cm (39.4″) suits a table or island of about 170 to 220 cm (67 to 87″). The two smallest rings work in a row of two or three over a long, narrow table or down a hallway. Prices run from $1,350 for the 40 cm ring to $8,800 for the 150 cm.

For a round table, the stepped silhouette of the Tiered Alabaster Chandelier answers the shape of the table itself. It is built from concentric tiers of hand-cut panels in solid brass, in four sizes from 2 tiers at 45 cm (17.7″) to 5 tiers at 100 cm (39.4″), from $1,280. The same form in black stainless steel runs from 45 cm (17.7″) to a seven-tier 110 cm (43.3″), from $1,180.

Double-height foyers and stairwells

In a foyer the chandelier is seen from below and from the side, often from a gallery above, so depth matters as much as width. The 3-Tier Round Alabaster Chandelier is three concentric rings descending in size and staggered in height. The Large has rings of 150, 100 and 50 cm (59, 39.4 and 19.7″) and is drawn for grand entrance halls, stairwells and open rooms; the full drop is 190 cm (74.8″), and longer cables are made to order for double-height volumes. It is offered from $7,000 to $12,000 across its three sizes.

Where the space calls for something quieter, the Double Round Alabaster Chandelier stages two rings about 40 cm (15.7″) apart. The Large, with a 100 cm (39.4″) upper ring, suits a table for ten to twelve or a double-height living room, from $6,850.

Specify the stone: veining and light colour

Alabaster is a soft, translucent stone with natural clouding and veining, and no two rings or panels are alike. On every alabaster piece we make, you can choose the veining when you order: quieter stone for a calm, almost milky glow, or pronounced veining for a room where the chandelier carries the eye. Choosing the veining adds no time to production, since it only decides which stone is selected for your piece.

The second decision is the colour of the light. Alabaster takes on the colour of the light inside it. At 2700K it glows honey and cream, and the veining reads as soft amber and grey drifts through the stone. Cooler light turns it grey-white and flat. Our integrated-LED rings are supplied at 2700K, and for the tiered pieces we recommend warm white E14 lamps at the same temperature. Dimming is free on all ceiling and floor lamps, and on alabaster it is worth specifying: at low output the stone becomes the softest light in the room.

Specify the metal

Each alabaster design is listed in the finishes it is made in, typically solid brass or stainless steel finished in black. Brass warms the stone and reads well against limestone, oak and plaster; black stainless steel draws a sharper outline and suits deeper wall colours. If the piece is right and the finish is wrong for the scheme, ask us. A changed metal finish adds about a month to production, and we confirm the exact date before work begins.

Specify the drop and the ceiling

Send us the floor-to-ceiling height and the height you want the lowest element to sit at, and we set the cable or chain length in the workshop so the piece arrives ready to hang. Drop extensions are $10 per 50 cm section, and a sloped-ceiling adaptation is $50. On the 3-Tier Round at its full 190 cm (74.8″) drop, for example, the lowest ring over a dining table suits ceilings of about 3.4 to 3.6 m (11 to 12 ft).

Weight belongs in the specification too. The Anello at 150 cm weighs about 25 kg (55 lb), the 3-Tier Large about 40 kg (88 lb) and the five-tier brass piece about 60 kg (132 lb). For the larger sizes, the fixture should be fixed to a joist or reinforced blocking, and we can supply the details your electrician or contractor needs.

How each piece is built and checked

Every alabaster chandelier is made to order in our workshop. Production begins about two days after the order and typically takes two to three weeks, including wiring for the destination country, a lit bench test and export packing. Transit time is separate and shown on each product page. For US projects, the electrical components are UL-listed.

Before dispatch, we film the finished fixture lit on the bench and send you the video, free of charge. You see your stone, your veining and your finish before the crate is closed. Pieces are packed for long-distance freight and delivered DDP to the United States and the European Union, with duties and import taxes covered, and every fixture carries a two-year warranty.

For architects, designers and procurement teams

For projects with several rooms or repeated fixtures, our trade program gives access to trade pricing, project quotations and documentation on request. The same customization logic applies across our range: our glass chandeliers can be made in any of sixteen hand-blown glass colours and six metal finishes on the glass customization page, and our ceramic chandeliers in six matte tones on the ceramic customization page.

To specify an alabaster chandelier for a project, send the room dimensions, ceiling height and finish to contact@casalolalights.com, and we will come back with the right size, veining and drop for the space.