It’s 9am on a Thursday morning and a laden truck hot from the Czech republic awaits unloading. The Trainspotters workers start offloading and stacking the cargo of hundreds of salvaged industrial lights into ordered batches in the mill. The workshop team of Stefan, Marek and Moni then set to work dismantling into component parts and stacking into crates ready for the next stage in the journey. All the old electrics are removed and copper transformers and metal parts are recycled along with the sodium bulbs. When dismantled the light components are despatched for cleaning/engineering/shotblasting/powdercoating/polishing as required. After these processes they return to our workshops where the real magic happens – they are carefully re-assembled into the beauties that you can see adorning our website. This is a satisfying moment for all of us, the culmination of a process usually begun some months before with an early morning flight under grey skies to some neglected district of the former Eastern Bloc. We feel lucky to be able to give these industrial relics of a failed ideology a new lease of life, albeit a decidedly more capitalist one.
Opaline Glass is arguably one of the most synonymous styles when we think of antique vintage lighting and it’s origins come from a mixture of European influences… Glass Of The Past Opaline Glass was produced in France during the 1800s and was highly fashionable around the world during this period. One of its main influences …
After 3 very long days and nights setting up, we finally flung open the doors of our East London pop-up showroom on Friday 4th May. It looks pretty good even if we say so ourselves. Thanks to all those who have found the time
We’ve been fancying doing this for a while and have finally got our act together.We’ve found a great glass fronted shop unit in the old Truman Brewery in East London, and will be running a shop there for 10 days in May.
The Backstory Over the years we’ve handled some incredible vintage glass lighting. From decorative Holophane pendants salvaged from Victorian churches to industrial explosion-proof beasts rescued from factories in Eastern Europe. Along the way we’ve developed a particular penchant for hand-blown glass. And so over recent years we’ve been building a range of hand blown lights, …
A truck arrives from the East…
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Opaline Origins
Opaline Glass is arguably one of the most synonymous styles when we think of antique vintage lighting and it’s origins come from a mixture of European influences… Glass Of The Past Opaline Glass was produced in France during the 1800s and was highly fashionable around the world during this period. One of its main influences …
Pop-up in full swing
After 3 very long days and nights setting up, we finally flung open the doors of our East London pop-up showroom on Friday 4th May. It looks pretty good even if we say so ourselves. Thanks to all those who have found the time
Trainspotters comes to London…
We’ve been fancying doing this for a while and have finally got our act together.We’ve found a great glass fronted shop unit in the old Truman Brewery in East London, and will be running a shop there for 10 days in May.
Hand Blown Glass
The Backstory Over the years we’ve handled some incredible vintage glass lighting. From decorative Holophane pendants salvaged from Victorian churches to industrial explosion-proof beasts rescued from factories in Eastern Europe. Along the way we’ve developed a particular penchant for hand-blown glass. And so over recent years we’ve been building a range of hand blown lights, …