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Tom Dixon's copper shade is made from plastic polycarbonate and coated with copper for a highly reflective surface. The shade was made by blowing the mold into an open-ended sphere, purposefully mimicking the look of floating bubbles. Dixon used his own proprietary method to form the mold using a complex vacuum metallization method that heats the metal in a vacuum chamber to its boiling point, which can then get deposited on the non-metallic (in this case plastic) surface. Due to this intense process, the Copper Shade has a seamless coating of metal over the light-weight plastic.

Pros & Cons

Pros:
3 people have already voted. Do you agree?

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copper is an unexpected choice
+1agreedisagree

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vacuum metallization sounds awesome
+1agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?

•
numerous small holes in shade
+2agreedisagree

More information

Although Tom Dixon uses complex and innovative methods in his product design, he is actually all self-taught. Dixon's designs have always had an artistic flair, which was how he originally got started in the furniture design business with scrap metal and recycled materials as his medium of choice. Eventually, through work with Cappellini, his designs were available on a wider scale. However, it wasn't until 1998 when Dixon was made the head of furniture retailer, Habitat, that his designs were more accessible by everyone.

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9 comments about Tom Dixon Copper Shade Pendant

1.  avatar hapajoe  Sep 10, 2007 10:30pm

I recently purchased the Tom Dixon Copper Shade Pendant from DWR. I love the look of the pendant during the day. However, at night when you turn on the light you can see hundreds of pinholes throughout the shade. Some are about 2 mm in diameter and are visible from more than 20 ft away. I looked at a UK website that stated the problem, but not to this extent. Has anyone else noticed this? I will be contacting DWR tomorrow. Here is a website with a small description of the problem:
http://www.icone.co.uk/lighting-suspension/.../MSS45UKC/
2.  avatar Amanie  Sep 10, 2007 10:56pm

I'd be interested to know what DWR says about this. On one hand the unique manufacturing process is the reason for the holes so it's understandable, but on the other hand, hundreds of pinholes is quite a lot and goes beyond what I would consider a simple inevitable in the manufacturing process.
3.  avatar hapajoe  Sep 10, 2007 11:01pm

I also emailed Tom Dixon about the problem to see if hundreds of pinholes is an outlier. I will keep you posted when I get a response from either company.
4.  avatar hapajoe  Sep 12, 2007 1:08am

DWR is sending another shade. It should arrive in the next week or so. The associates at Tom Dixon recognized the problem in different ways. The representative in London sent me a response with a pasted paragraph from the link I posted above. She suggested that I should keep the defective shade. The U.S. representative was apologetic. He stated that he was aware of the problem with this shade and suggested that I return it. I will post again once I receive the new shade as to its state.
5.  avatar Amanie  Sep 12, 2007 9:28am

So 2 out of 3 ain't bad, I guess. That's a pretty cheeky maneuver on the part of the London rep, considering the rest of the people said yours was especially defective!
6.  avatar hapajoe  Sep 19, 2007 8:09pm

The new shade arrived today. There are still a few small holes (about 10-15), most are not noticeable. The number of holes make a big difference in the look of the shade, especially at night. I am very pleased with the way that DWR handled the situation. They sent the new shade before receiving the old one with no hassle.
7.  avatar Amanie  Sep 19, 2007 9:41pm

Finally, a good customer service story. I still think the Tom Dixon rep was way out of line, I hope DWR sends the defective shade back to them.
8.  avatar hapajoe  Sep 20, 2007 12:15am

I posted some pictures of the shades that I received. The white spots are holes with light shining through.

The first picture shows one side of the first shade that I received. The other sides were similar to this side. I was very unhappy with this shade. It looked cheap.

The second picture shows the worse side of the replacement shade. All of the other sides have 0-1 small holes that are hardly noticeable. What do you think? Should I keep it?
9.  avatar Amanie  Sep 24, 2007 4:10pm

I would keep it, it's hardly even noticeable. Maybe if you were looking for them, but otherwise I think it's totally fine. Much different than the hole-y one. I'm surprised that one even made it through a quality check.
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    Key Features:

    Manufacturer Tom Dixon
    Price $450.00

    Sponsors

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    2095 views and 22 edits (see all)
    3 contributors -  Amanie, hapajoe, Erik
    Created: 07/26/2007 - 10:28
    Modified: 09/24/2007 - 16:10