A made-to-order sconce can take ten weeks to arrive and cost more than a dining table. That's the trade every buyer of handcrafted lighting accepts, and in a room where the fixture is the first thing anyone notices, it's usually worth making.
The Urban Electric Co. has been the reference point for that trade since 2002, building every fixture to order in Charleston, South Carolina, from a workshop campus that has grown from 500 square feet to more than 120,000. Its Pop sconce starts at $1,280. Lead times run roughly two to ten weeks depending on the program.
Plenty of good reasons exist to look at other makers. Budgets vary, some catalogs skew traditional where you want sculptural, a few brands sell only through designers, and sometimes a project can't wait ten weeks.
What Makes Lighting "Handcrafted"?
Handcrafted lighting is a fixture assembled and finished by hand in a named workshop, usually after the order is placed rather than pulled from stock. The practical markers are solid brass or steel instead of plated pot metal, hand-applied patinas that vary slightly between pieces, and a published lead time measured in weeks. That last detail is the honest dividing line. A fixture that ships tomorrow was made months ago in a factory run, and it will look it under a hand.
Made-to-Order American Studios
These eleven studios work the closest to Urban Electric's model. Each designs and builds in a workshop it owns, quotes a real lead time, and finishes by hand. Expect four figures for most fixtures and expect to wait.
Apparatus
Apparatus makes the most collectible lighting on this list. The New York studio, founded in 2012, works in hand-patinated brass combined with marble, suede, horsehair, lacquer, and porcelain, and it describes its own practice as small-studio craftsmanship centered on the human hand. Galleries in New York, Los Angeles, and London show the work like sculpture, which is roughly the price bracket too.
The Cloud Chandelier runs from $7,050 for the 30-inch Cloud 19 up to $37,500 for the Cloud XL 73, with mouth-blown frosted glass orbs suspended from brass chain. Tarnished silver adds 35% to the price. Lead times run twelve to fourteen weeks.
Best for: Statement fixtures treated as art, with the budget to match
Allied Maker
Allied Maker builds lighting in a Glen Cove, New York studio on Long Island, working in brass, alabaster, glass, wood, and ceramic across its Arc, Dome, Orb, Aperture, and Concentric collections. The studio started in 2013 and has kept design and manufacturing in the same building since.
The Arc collection spans $1,450 to $6,900 depending on configuration, with brushed brass and glass in the Arc-Well pendant and sconce family that has become the studio's signature. At the top of the range, the Alabaster Totem 16 is $29,600 of carved stone. Most fixtures land between $2,000 and $5,000.
Best for: Warm minimalism in brass and alabaster, made on Long Island
In Common With
In Common With has grown from a 2018 startup into a Brooklyn studio with six collections and more than 150 products, all hand-assembled in Gowanus. Its founders trained as craftspeople across wood, metal, upholstery, ceramics, and glass, and the catalog reflects it, with Murano-glass limited editions alongside hand-thrown ceramic fixtures. The 8,000-square-foot Quarters showroom on Broadway is worth a visit if you're in Manhattan.
The Up Down Sconce runs $425 to $875 depending on configuration, with two painted-metal shades available in 125 finish combinations including patina brass, pewter, oxide red, and reed green. Made to order in two to four weeks.
Best for: Custom finish combinations under $900
Lostine
Lostine is a husband-and-wife studio in Philadelphia where, in the company's words, everything from sketchbook to shipping happens in one place. Artists Robert Ogden and Natalie Page founded it in 2011, pairing two decades of self-taught metalwork with ceramic lighting and tile. Pieces are made to order in small batches to cut waste.
The Baker Wall Sconce is $1,500 in stoneware ceramic and brass, with ceramic in Cream, Dove, Olivine, or Almost Black and metal in Antique or Satin Brass. Lead time is six to eight weeks. Chandeliers start at $4,200 for the Lola and $5,200 for the Baker Axis.
Best for: Warm American modern fixtures in ceramic and brass
Roll & Hill
Roll & Hill acts as both curator and manufacturer, producing original designs from independent designers in its own factory. Jason Miller founded the company in Brooklyn in 2010 so that a piece could move from concept to completion without compromise. Production now runs out of Byron Center, Michigan, with the showroom still on Mercer Street in New York.
The Bauer Chandelier 01 is $15,940 and stacks concentric clusters of handblown tubular glass that shade from dark to light across 29 inches of drop. It weighs 45 pounds and comes in Black, Bronze, or Brushed Brass.
Best for: Gallery-grade modern chandeliers from independent designers
Workstead
Workstead is the closest neighbor on this list, running its lighting studio out of Charleston, the same city as Urban Electric. Robert Highsmith and Stefanie Brechbuehler founded the practice in 2009 and work across architecture, interiors, and product, which is why the fixtures read as architectural rather than decorative. The firm designed the public spaces at the Wythe Hotel in 2012.
The Signal Sconce is $1,895 and suspends a hand-blown glass globe from a metal backplate on a pair of pins, with a sinuous pull chain weighted by a slender bar. Finishes include Lost Brass, Hewn Brass, Hand Finished Bronze, and Brushed Nickel. It stands nine inches tall, is damp rated, and ships in four weeks for orders of one to six.
Best for: Elemental brass and glass with an architect's proportions
Remains Lighting Co.
Remains Lighting Co. started in 1996 by hunting down and restoring vintage fixtures, then expanded into building its own. David Calligeros now runs a 25,000-square-foot LEED Gold-certified factory in Brooklyn producing made-to-order pieces alongside a genuine antique inventory, with showrooms in New York and Los Angeles.
The Vickers Sconce runs $1,440 in Polished Brass up to $1,795 in other finishes, built in solid brass with a beveled bullseye backplate and a shallow waxpan. It's UL listed, stands 12 inches, and ships within ten weeks. Sconces across the catalog run roughly $1,295 to $6,250.
Best for: Made-to-order fixtures alongside genuine antiques
Shop Remains Lighting Co. now.
Urban Archaeology
Urban Archaeology helped invent the architectural salvage movement, pulling fixtures out of demolition sites from the early 1970s and opening its first SoHo store in 1978. Since 1997 it has worked from a six-story TriBeCa building that houses its own ironworkers, mold makers, and finishers, which is how it earns the "Made in NYC" line on its site.
Loft Light
$1,475 to $1,925 by finish. Cast brass in about fifteen finishes, made in the TriBeCa workshop.
Shop NowThe Loft Light is cast brass and runs $1,475 to $1,925 depending on finish, with about fifteen options including Polished Brass, Green Patina, and Statuary Black. Some finishes are priced on request. It takes an 8W LED and weighs 7.3 pounds.
Best for: Turn-of-the-century reproductions cast in New York
Brass Light Gallery
Brass Light Gallery has been handcrafting lighting in Milwaukee since 1974, and every fixture is made to order in that workshop from solid brass and premium components. The catalog covers Victorian, Arts and Crafts, Tudor, and modern styles, which is unusually broad for a studio this size.
The Carlton one-light straight-arm wall sconce is $385, with the matching two-light flush ceiling fixture from $390. Both show the collection's strong silhouettes and refined divot detailing. Entry pendants start at $309, and the Stamford Collection reaches about $8,587, so the range covers a whole house.
Best for: Period-correct solid brass at the lowest entry price in this tier
Cerno
Cerno was started in 2009 by three childhood friends from Laguna Beach who wanted to design and build fixtures in California rather than send the work overseas. The company is vertically integrated with everything under one roof in Aliso Viejo, and it also owns the art-lighting brand Revelite. Wood is the signature material, usually walnut against aluminum.
The Silva Giant Floor Lamp is $3,381 through authorized retailers and stands 91 inches in solid walnut with a fabric shade. It runs a dimmable 11W LED at 2700K with 90+ CRI. Cerno sells through dealers, so the brand site itself doesn't show prices.
Best for: Modern American-made fixtures in walnut and aluminum
RBW
RBW, short for Rich Brilliant Willing, was founded in 2007 by three RISD graduates working out of a Lower East Side basement. It bet on LED early, in 2011, and designs from the technology outward, which shows in fixtures that look engineered rather than decorated. Production runs from a factory in Kingston, New York, and a Tribeca flagship opened in 2025.
The Crisp Sconce is cast solid glass and aluminum at five inches across, with IP-rated options and TRIAC dimming. Most RBW products are quoted rather than priced online, with the Crisp landing around $456 to $532 at retailers like Lumens.
Best for: Architectural LED fixtures with spec-sheet rigor
Luxury Design Houses and Designer Collaborations
These seven sell bigger catalogs, faster availability, and names you already recognize. Several operate on trade pricing, which means the number you see isn't always the number a designer pays.
Visual Comfort & Co.
Visual Comfort & Co. is the largest decorative lighting house in this guide and the most likely to have what you want in stock. Andy Singer founded it in his Houston garage in 1987 after a decade as a manufacturer's rep, starting with a partnership with designer E.F. Chapman and a single Pharmacy Lamp. The company absorbed Circa Lighting in 2022, so those two names now point at one business.
Hicks Large Pendant
$1,299. Thomas O'Brien's riveted metal bands over a white glass globe, in four finishes.
Shop NowThe Hicks Large Pendant by Thomas O'Brien is $1,299, with metal bands and rivet detailing over a white glass globe in four finishes. The small version is $849. The designer roster also includes AERIN, Ralph Lauren, kate spade new york, and Amber Lewis.
Best for: Designer-name lighting with real inventory behind it
Shop Visual Comfort & Co. now.
Kelly Wearstler
Kelly Wearstler brings the boldest silhouettes on this list. The Los Angeles studio, founded in 1995, grew out of interiors work for the Proper and Viceroy hotels into a full product brand, and its lighting is designed, manufactured, and sold through a partnership with Visual Comfort & Co.
Rousseau Medium Chandelier
$6,499. Antique-burnished brass with etched crystal, 38 inches across, damp rated.
Shop NowThe Rousseau Medium Chandelier is $6,499 in antique-burnished brass, bronze, or polished nickel, with etched crystal or seeded glass across a 38-inch spread. It runs a dedicated LED at 2,800 lumens and is ETL listed and damp rated. Sconces in the collection start closer to $500.
Best for: Sculptural statement pieces with a recognizable signature
Made Goods
Made Goods started in 2008 as a niche mirror company and grew into a materials-driven house working across more than 350 materials. Its debut collection was designed in India and the Philippines, and the faux-coral-edged Coco Mirror from those early days is still in the line. The lighting leans textural in a way that most of this list doesn't.
The Marjorie Chandelier is $3,520 at retail and built from banana bark set in resin, layered into tiers of semi-opaque panels across 24 inches. Made Goods prices through a trade login on its own site, so retail figures come from authorized dealers.
Best for: Textural, materials-forward fixtures in resin and natural fiber
Arteriors
Arteriors runs the broadest catalog here, with more than 1,200 products and around 500 new introductions a year, all handcrafted by artisans worldwide. Mark Moussa launched it in 1987 at age 29 from a 5,000-square-foot warehouse in what was then an undeveloped stretch of the Dallas Design District. Showrooms now sit in Los Angeles, New York, and London.
Liberty Chandelier
Price on request. Eight opal glass globes on brass-plated iron wrapped in hand-stitched faux shagreen.
Shop NowThe Liberty Chandelier hangs eight matte opal glass globes on an antique brass-plated iron frame wrapped in hand-stitched faux shagreen, spanning 55.5 inches. Theater marquees inspired the design. Arteriors lists it as price on request, with an MSRP reported around $3,760.
Best for: Volume and variety without dropping to mass-market quality
Ochre
Ochre is the British entry and the most restrained. Joanna Bibby and Harriet Maxwell Macdonald founded it in London in 1996, with Solenne de la Fouchardière joining as a third partner in 2000. Every piece is handmade to order by specialist workshops in the UK and US, and the primary lighting workshop runs entirely on solar power.
The Arctic Pear Chandelier is the one you've seen, with clear solid-glass pear-shaped drops suspended from a bronze or nickel frame in round, oval, and wave configurations. Ochre quotes on request, and retailers have listed the 24-inch round near $5,565. The New York showroom is on Grand Street.
Best for: Quiet British luxury in bronze, glass, and porcelain
Bocci
Bocci sits between lighting and installation art. Randy Bishop and architect Omer Arbel started it in 2005 after meeting at New York Design Week, where Arbel was showing the prototype of the cast-glass 14 pendant that became the company's first product. Vancouver holds the main operation with a satellite in Berlin.
28.1 Single Pendant
$850 in clear, plus $325 per coloured pendant. Hand-blown glass, ships in two to three weeks.
Shop NowThe 28.1 single pendant is $850 in clear, with coloured glass adding $325 per pendant, and it uses a hand-blown sphere with a recessed inclusion that diffuses the light source from inside. Lamps and power supplies are included and it ships in two to three weeks. Cluster the pendants into larger configurations and the price climbs fast, with the biggest installations passing $80,000.
Best for: Clustered blown-glass installations over stairwells and dining tables
Currey & Company
Currey & Company builds statement chandeliers out of natural, recycled, and reclaimed materials, much of it worked by hand. Robert and Suzanne Currey started the business in 1988 as Garden Source Furniture and renamed it in 1990. It runs showrooms in Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas, New York, and High Point, with a company-owned factory in the Philippines.
The Sommelier Chandelier is made from recycled wine bottles and runs $2,613.60 at retail, which captures the brand's whole approach in one fixture. Currey prices through trade accounts on its own site, so retail comes through dealers. Chandeliers generally land between $2,600 and $5,500.
Best for: Recycled and reclaimed materials in a statement silhouette
Heritage and Reproduction Lighting
These four make period-correct fixtures, either restoring historical designs or reproducing them from original tooling. If your house has a date on it, start here.
Hubbardton Forge
Hubbardton Forge is the oldest and largest commercial forge in the United States, founded in 1974 in an old barn in Hubbardton, Vermont by George Chandler and Reed Hampton. More than 200 Vermont blacksmiths hand-forge each piece, and the hammer marks stay visible under hand-applied finishes. The company has won multiple Vermont Governor's Awards for Environmental Excellence.
Sling Pendant
$2,200. Hand-forged steel, 34 inches wide, adjustable drop, lifetime limited warranty.
Shop NowThe Sling Pendant is $2,200 in hand-forged steel, spanning 34.2 inches wide and adjustable from 39.6 to 84.6 inches of overall drop. Finishes include Dark Smoke, Sterling, Soft Gold, and Modern Brass, and every fixture carries a lifetime limited warranty. Statement pendants across the catalog run roughly $2,000 to $3,100.
Best for: Hand-forged steel with visible evidence of the blacksmith
Schoolhouse
Schoolhouse exists because Brian Faherty found a collection of vintage cast-iron glass shade molds in an old upstate New York factory in 2003. The company still makes fixtures from those rediscovered molds in a century-old Portland, Oregon factory building where design, manufacturing, and retail sit under one roof, and it has expanded into hardware, bedding, and decor.
The Alfred Sconce runs $399 to $499 in brass and painted finishes, and the rest of the wall sconce range sits between $199 for the Cylinder Double Sconce and $399 for the Allegheny 6" Plug-In. That makes this the most affordable heritage option here by a wide margin.
Best for: Schoolhouse-style pendants and sconces under $500
Rejuvenation
Rejuvenation began in 1977 when Jim Kelly started an architectural salvage business with $1,000 in a former North Portland saloon. It grew into one of America's leading makers of reproduction period lighting, was acquired by Williams-Sonoma in 2011, and still assembles many fixtures to order at its Portland factory.
Hood Classic Pendant
$779 to $1,019. Based on a 1915 factory light, with nine finishes and sixteen shades.
Shop NowThe Hood Classic Pendant takes its shape from a 1915 factory light and runs $779 to $1,019 depending on finish, length, and shade, with nine finishes and sixteen shades to configure. Pendants across the catalog span roughly $349 to $1,499, and Rejuvenation discounts aggressively, so a $629 Conical Pendant was listed at $199.97 when we checked.
Best for: Reproduction period lighting with mainstream availability
Original BTC
Original BTC is the one brand here making bone china lampshades, and it invented the category. Peter Bowles founded it in Oxfordshire, England in 1990 and was the first designer to use bone china in lighting. His children Hettie and Charlie now run it. To keep the craft in Britain, the company bought a Stoke-on-Trent bone china factory in 2002, rescued Davey Lighting in 2010, and acquired English Antique Glass in 2011.
The Hector 30 Table Light is £345 including VAT, with a Stoke-made bone china shade and the signature braided cotton cable. US retailers list it around $359 to $479. The Hector range extends to wall, floor, pendant, and clip versions.
Best for: English bone china and braided cable at a reachable price
More Accessible Lighting Brands
These five sell the same visual language for a fraction of the price. The construction is lighter and the finishes are plated rather than solid, but in a hallway or a guest room the difference rarely shows. Several also turn up in our roundup of the best online furniture stores, since they sell well beyond lighting.
Hinkley
Hinkley has been in business since 1922, when Phil R. Hinkley started it in Cleveland, Ohio making residential outdoor lanterns. It has stayed family-owned for four generations under the Wiedemer family, who bought it in the mid-1930s, and now runs indoor, outdoor, and landscape lighting plus ceiling fans from Avon Lake, Ohio. It also owns Fredrick Ramond and Lark.
Adair Large Wall Mount Lantern
$579. Large outdoor lantern from a company that has been making them since 1922.
Shop NowThe Adair large wall-mount lantern is $579 and the Republic is $329 in oil-rubbed bronze. Most fixtures land between $199 and $579, which puts a full exterior lighting scheme within reach of a normal budget.
Best for: Exterior and landscape lighting at a fair price
Hudson Valley Lighting
Hudson Valley Lighting has a real lineage behind it. David Littman founded the company in Newburgh, New York in October 1985 at age 23, carrying on a family thread that runs back to his grandfather William and a fluorescent debut with GE at the 1939 World's Fair. It began by restoring vintage fixtures and now anchors a group that includes Mitzi, Troy, Corbett, Schoolhouse, Sonneman, and CSL.
Sconces such as the Jewett, a single bulb inside a clear glass shade, sit in a range of roughly $433 to $893 at retailers. Chandeliers start near $500 and climb past $2,000.
Best for: Handblown glass detailing at upper-mid pricing
Shop Hudson Valley Lighting now.
Regina Andrew
Regina Andrew works in alabaster, crystal, and marble with a heavy dose of brass, which lets it land close to the luxury houses for a third of the money. Carla Zajac and James Slaven founded the company in 1998 in a makeshift garage workshop and named it by combining their middle names. It operates out of Wyandotte, Michigan, outside Detroit.
The Polly Chandelier is $1,220 and hangs six scalloped linen shades on a multi-tiered blackened-brass frame with rotatable arms. Sconces start around $290 and lamps around $410, with most chandeliers between $1,037 and $2,300.
Best for: Alabaster and brass glamour at mid-tier prices
Mitzi
Mitzi launched in 2017 as Hudson Valley Lighting Group's accessible line, named after the founder's grandmother. It targets people who want current design without a designer's markup, and it backs that up with free design consultations and a lighting quiz that narrows the catalog by room.
The Onda Chandelier is $1,580 in aged brass, and the Makena is $1,100, stringing white-oak spheres along a swag with cloud-glass orbs. Chandeliers run roughly $596 to $1,862 and sconces $300 to $500, which is the sweet spot for a first real light fixture.
Best for: Current design at the lowest entry point for a statement piece
Lamps Plus
Lamps Plus is the largest specialty lighting retailer in the country, which makes it the practical stop when you need six coordinated fixtures next week rather than one heirloom in ten. Dennis Swanson opened the first store in North Hollywood in 1976, the family still runs it out of Chatsworth, California, and a million-square-foot warehouse in Redlands handles fulfillment.
House brands do much of the work here, and Possini Euro Design is the one to know, with a deep contemporary chandelier range that mostly sits in the mid-hundreds. Typical fixtures across the catalog run roughly $100 to $600. About 36 physical stores mean you can see a finish in person before buying, which no other brand in this tier offers.
Best for: Fast shipping, huge selection, and seeing fixtures in person
How the Tiers Compare
| Tier | Typical Price | Top Picks | Lead Time | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Made-to-order studios | $1,400–$37,500 | Apparatus, Allied Maker, Lostine, Remains | 2–14 weeks | Heirloom fixtures, hand-applied finishes |
| Luxury design houses | $850–$6,500 | Visual Comfort, Kelly Wearstler, Arteriors, Ochre | In stock to 10 weeks | Designer names, wider availability |
| Heritage and reproduction | $199–$3,150 | Hubbardton Forge, Schoolhouse, Rejuvenation, Original BTC | Days to 8 weeks | Period-correct fixtures for older homes |
| Accessible | $100–$1,900 | Hinkley, Regina Andrew, Mitzi, Lamps Plus | Ships immediately | Whole-house schemes on a budget |
Bottom line: If you want the closest equivalent to Urban Electric's made-to-order model, start with Allied Maker or Lostine, both of which build to order in the $1,500 range. For a designer-name fixture you can get this month, Visual Comfort has the deepest inventory. If the budget is the constraint, Schoolhouse delivers genuine heritage construction under $500.
How to Choose a Luxury Lighting Brand
Check the lead time before you fall for a fixture. Made-to-order studios quote two to fourteen weeks, and that clock starts when you pay. If electrical rough-in is already scheduled, filter to brands with stock. Hinkley, Lamps Plus, and most of Visual Comfort's catalog ship quickly. Apparatus and Roll & Hill don't.
Check whether the brand sells to you at all. Ochre, Made Goods, Currey & Company, and RBW price through trade accounts, which means the number on the page may be a dealer figure or missing entirely. You can usually still buy through an authorized retailer, but you'll pay retail and lose the designer discount. Worth knowing before you fall for a fixture.
Solid brass costs more and lasts longer. A solid brass fixture develops a patina and can be refinished. A brass-plated one wears through at the contact points and can't be fixed. Brass Light Gallery, Remains, and Urban Archaeology all specify solid brass, which is most of why their sconces start where mass-market chandeliers stop. The same logic applies to furniture, which is why we look at frame construction in our guide to the best DTC furniture brands.
Size up, then size up again. The single most common lighting mistake is a fixture that's too small for its room. A dining chandelier should be roughly half to two-thirds the width of the table. Most of the studios above publish full dimensions, and several will quote a custom size, which is worth asking about before you compromise on a stock diameter.
Match the fixture to the room you're building. Lighting is usually the last decision in a renovation and the one that ties the others together, so it helps to know where the room is heading first. The warm woods and rounded silhouettes running through this year's design trends pair better with aged brass than with polished nickel, and the same reasoning applies when you shop furniture from brands like Castlery.
Frequently Asked Questions
What brands are similar to The Urban Electric Co.?
The closest equivalents are made-to-order American studios that build in their own workshops: Allied Maker in Glen Cove, New York, Lostine in Philadelphia, Remains Lighting Co. in Brooklyn, Workstead in Charleston, and Urban Archaeology in TriBeCa. All five hand-finish fixtures after the order is placed and quote lead times of six to twelve weeks. Sconces from these studios generally start between $1,440 and $1,900.
Why is handcrafted lighting so expensive?
Handcrafted fixtures cost more because of material and labor rather than markup. Solid brass costs several times what plated pot metal does, hand-applied patinas take a skilled finisher hours per piece, and made-to-order production forfeits the economies of a factory run. A $1,500 sconce from Lostine or Remains uses solid brass that can be refinished decades later, where a $150 fixture uses plating that wears through and can't be repaired.
How long does made-to-order lighting take to ship?
Most made-to-order lighting ships in six to twelve weeks. Remains Lighting Co. quotes ten weeks, Lostine six to eight, Apparatus twelve to fourteen, and In Common With just two to four. Urban Electric's Quick Ship program compresses its own range to roughly two to ten weeks. Order lighting at the same time you order cabinetry rather than at the end of a renovation.
Can you buy luxury lighting without a designer?
Yes, though a few brands make it harder. Ochre, Made Goods, Currey & Company, and RBW operate trade programs where full pricing sits behind a designer login, but each sells through authorized retailers open to the public. Visual Comfort, Schoolhouse, Rejuvenation, Hinkley, and Mitzi all sell direct with prices published on the page and no account required.
What's the difference between solid brass and brass-plated fixtures?
Solid brass is brass all the way through, so it can be polished, patinated, and refinished indefinitely. Brass-plated fixtures apply a thin brass layer over steel or zinc, and that layer wears through at handles, switches, and edges within a few years. Solid brass also develops a living patina rather than a worn spot. Brass Light Gallery, Remains, and Urban Archaeology specify solid brass throughout.
