Edmund! ELEVEN MATCHING RIDDLE FIXTURES! Restored too!! What an opportunity, Delia! We can do the whole house!! Start Price USD 2,400.00 Current Price USD 2,400.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Monday, August 25, 2008 End Time Monday, September 01, 2008 Location Strong City, Kansas See more about 'Edmund! ELEVEN MATCHING RIDDLE FIXTURES! Restored too!!' Description   WHY MY RESTORED LIGHTS ARE SPECIAL. The Top Ten!   1) Most importantly, I restore vintage fixtures. I do not renovate them. There is a huge distinction between the two. Please see the box at the bottom of my item description for more information. 2) My lights are rewired and ready to hang; everything to do so is included. They also come with electrical mounting bars. You will thank me for this; it’s incredibly hard to find the correct size mounting bars for vintage lights. 3) My lights feature original or vintage canopies (the cup that goes against the ceiling). I never use those under-sized, thin canopies from Home Depot so common to renewed vintage lights on eBay. 4) My lights feature original chain or a special-ordered chain that is quite a bit thicker and more substantial than chain from Home Depot (also common to renewed vintage lights on eBay). 5) I use really lovely cloth-covered wire for all visible areas. 6) I use new porcelain sockets instead of plastic. If porcelain sockets do not fit, I use new Bakelite sockets. 7) I am an incredible packer (see feedback). Worry-free shipping! 8) When necessary, I forward special instructions on how to hang your vintage fixture. 9) I answer emails! Quickly! 10) Read my feedback. You’ll know that if a problem should develop that I won’t disappear! Or snarl at you!     Some recent feedback (as Seller, not Buyer!):   Fixture was just as lovely as described!!! EXTREMELY careful shipping too!!!   Thank you very much!!! A+++++ Transaction!!! Incredible Service!!! WOW!!!   The best of the best lighting right here - this seller's quality is truly amazing.   Regarding lights on eBay, there is rossmct23 and then there is everybody else.   The restorations are obviously done with care and expertise - it's always perfect.   My favorite seller - you know you'll get exactly what he says.   Such a pleasure to do business with - responsive, honest, and helpful.   Simply the best.   Perfect transaction!! Fabulous [packing]!! Most impressive!! Highest recommendation.   ASTONISHING IS RIGHT! MY FAVORITE!!!SELLER! This light KNOCKS ME OUT!   Can't say enough about this GREAT seller. The BEST!!! Can't wait to buy again!!!   This was an awesome experience. I can't wait to buy more from Ross.   Great item, packaging and service. Wow. *****   Awesome fixture, quick ship and enough packing for many lights; perfect.   Awesome fixture, awesome seller. Ross is the real deal!   FANTASTIC SELLER! Super quick shipping/beautiful light as described. Thank you!   A really great seller! Knowledge, wit, and talent with this seller!!!   Pics didn't do it justice, fabulous and perfect; perfect packing and quick ship   WOWZER!! and DOUBLE YIPPEEEEE!!!   TOP NOTCH SELLER!! FANTASTIC PACKING! QUALITY LIGHTING....Thank you   AAA+++ Could not be happier with product or transaction.   Can't say enough about Ross. Fantastic Ebayer in every way possible.   Item as described, beautiful fixture, great packaging, fast delivery, thanks.   Chandelier arrived in MINT condition, first-rate seller, perfect sale! The best!   Packed incredibly well. Very accurate description and perfect item.   Amazing restoration, amazing service, amazing packaging! Wonderful transaction!   Personal service from seller, extraordinarily well-packed, beautiful fixture.   MUSEUM quality + PERFECT packing + LIGHTNING ship = FAVORITE SELLER   Lovely fixture, fantastic communication & service! Fast ship. On favorite list!   SPECTACULAR in EVERY WAY. My FAVORITE seller. ALWAYS A+++PERFECT   Exceptional Transaction/Perfect Restoration Workmanship/Items Well Packed/Thanks   Best lighting guy ever; great lights; excellent communication; superstar; thanks   The best seller I’ve ever dealt with on eBay! Absolutely first rate in every way.   WOWEE! This is an astonishing FIXTURE!! Many, many thanks! PERFECT transaction!   Wow! Best Ebayer ever. Professional, thorough, prompt; great merchandise/packing   I can’t say enough WONDERFUL things about this seller! ABOVE AND BEYOND! THANKS   Great fixtures, superb packaging, and great to work with, don't hesitate, buy!!!   Best seller ever...hands down.   Great item, exquisite restoration, super professional seller, very well packed.   Super professional, great packing, great item, great communication. A+   Ebay's finest...5 stars and then some!   Stop what you are doing...eBay has been perfected.   Great transaction – seller is fun to deal with. I'm an extremely happy customer   Wonderful and beautiful chandelier. Great restoration. Great seller. A++++   BETTER than DESCRIBED w/ PERFECT PACKING & SHIPPING = A++++   SPECTACULAR item and SELLER EXCEEDS ALL EXPECTATIONS = A+++         I'VE A TON MORE GREAT VINTAGE LIGHTS IN MY EBAY STORE!   I am very pleased to offer this ASTONISHING opportunity:   AN ENTIRE HOUSEFUL OF MATCHING 1920s RIDDLE LIGHTS!   YES!   This listing is for ELEVEN matching fixtures: TWO 5-bulb chandeliers! ONE 5-bulb surface-mounted fixture! ONE 4-bulb chandelier! TWO 3-bulb chandeliers! FOUR 1-bulb sconces! ONE 2-bulb candle-style sconce.   WOW!   If some 1970s numbskull absconded with all the original fixtures from your wonderful classic home, then this is a extraordinary opportunity to right this grave aesthetic injustice!   Or you may have a new home that requires the beauty of restored vintage fixtures!   Please note that this set retains its ORIGINAL polychrome finish, and ORIGINAL canopies (distinctive to RIDDLE).   It’s so rare finding RIDDLE fixture which retain their original finish (and in good condition). Almost all RIDDLE fixtures on eBay have been, well, super-sized with lots-o-color. These BRILLIANT fixtures look nothing like they did when leaving the factory in the 1920s. So, if you are seeking a true period look, then this set is ideal.     ABOUT THE LENGTHS: The chandeliers are about 31- to 32-inches long. They can be reduced to about 17-inches, and I will do this at no extra charge. If you need the fixtures longer please contact me.     Wholly restored, this set has all new wiring, and is ready to hang!   DETAILS: Sadly, the period-correct, hand-painted bulbs are not included. Happily, I will let you know where to get them. The sonces each have thier own brass on/off switch. New. COLOR: The fixtures retain their classic silver RIDDLE finish with subtle touches of red, blue, and emerald. SIZE: PLEASE NOTE THE DIMENSIONS INCLUDE THE BULBS. The 5-bulb chandeliers are about 32-inches long and 16-inches wide. The 5-bulb surface-mounted is 5-1/2-inches long and 15-inches wide. The 4-bulb chandelier is about 31-inches long and about 14-inches wide. The 3-bulb chandeliers are about 31-inches long and 12-inches wide. The 1-bulb sconces are about 9-1/2-inches long, 4-1/2-inches wide, and project 5-1/2-inches. The 2-bulb sconce is about 9-1/2-inches long, about 9-inches wide, and projects 4-inches. CONDITION: There’s no damage. The set retains its distinctive original RIDDLE sockets. I put on new paper insulators as required. All the wiring is new. The vertical wires are new and cloth-covered like the originals. The original polychrome (distinctive to RIDDLE fixtures) is excellent with only minor touching up. SHIPPING: Good packing adds weight, often more than the item itself. You will thank me for this when this set arrives in one piece and not eight. Insured shipping in the Continental US FOR THREE BOXES will be $90. PAYMENT: PLEASE LET ME KNOW WITHIN 24-HOURS HOW YOU WILL BE PAYING. Payment must be received within 7 days or sale is canceled. Beware: Feedback will reflect this! Paypal. Money Order. Personal/Company check. Shipping will take place after check has cleared. NOTE: After payment is received, I normally ship within 7 days.     A NOTE (or two) ABOUT MY RESTORATIONS   It’s common to misuse the word restoration. To restore means to bring something back to its original appearance and materials.   There are many vintage lights on eBay. Almost without exception, the renewed ones have been renovated. This is quite a different process. Renovated fixtures are often bead-blasted. This is a highly effective and quick way to remove an old finish but it can also erode fine detail. I never bead blast. I use old-fashion paint stripper (an environmentally safe brand) and an old toothbrush. It takes much longer but none – and I mean none – of the original detail is lost.   While cast-iron fixtures can normally take the effects of bead-blasting, the overwhelming majority of vintage fixtures are either pot metal or aluminum. These soft metals are easily damaged by bead-blasting. Just think of the words bead-blasting. Does this sound gentle to you? And do you really want a fixture that was so rusted/corroded as to require a blast? Yikes!   Moreover, I simply don’t understand why anyone would want to remove an original finish. I work hard at respecting original finishes, and most of my fixtures retain their original finish. I’m proud of this, and enjoy it too! When a finish is intact but faded, I essentially wash a new finish over the old. Thus, the original finish is still visible but looks wholly refreshed. In short, it simply looks as it did when leaving the factory many decades previous. Or, it's very common that 90% of the original finish is intact. To me, it seems a shame to remove all this just because a tiny portion is lost. So I recreate what is missing. And you can't tell that I did anything.   To restore a finish means just that. To replicate the original. The only way to accomplish this is to use the same materials, colors, and techniques that were used originally. This is almost never done. The common approach is to use modern paints, jazzed-up colors, many many many colors, and a very shiny protective coating. This is akin to painting flames down the side of a 1959 Cadillac and calling it restored. The Cadillac may now be in perfect running condition and utterly gleaming but it is visually not the same Cadillac that left Detroit in 1959.   The original finish on vintage fixtures is entirely different than can be achieved with modern paints. Modern paints give the effect of a plastic film over the fixture whereas the original finishes were usually like a stain. The effect is quite a bit more subtle.   Vintage fixtures also used color sparingly and few featured more than three colors.   Vintage fixtures also have a subtle sheen, an effect quite lost when a very shiny protective coating is sprayed on. (And what’s with this mania for “protective” coatings? Vintage lights are not like, say, a boat. They don’t spend their days roughing the high seas, sun, and salt. They idly and patiently hang over your dining room table! All they might need protection from is family arguments! Or bad wallpaper!)   I have been restoring lighting since I was a teenager in the mid-1970s. One of my great discoveries was the finish material used by almost all lighting companies prior to World War II. This is a hand-applied and hand-burnished product and I use it on my fixtures that require new finishes. Significantly, the colors are also the same colors that were used originally.   Because of this, I can place a wholly refinished fixture next to one with a mint original finish and you will not be able to see any difference. I occasionally amuse (torture?) my friends with this. Not once have they been able to tell the difference. "Wow."   In addition, I do not refinish the back of my fixtures. By doing so it is difficult to really know if the fixture is vintage (there are usually paint speckles, scratches, and age marks). Once installed, the back cannot be seen but you will know that your fixture is indeed vintage.   All this said, I never restore electrical components. Eighty-year-old electrical parts are simply dangerous. So my lights receive high-quality new sockets (usually porcelain), new wiring, and cloth-covered wiring for any visible areas.   Please know that I have no issue with flame-painted 1959 Cadillacs. Or renovated vintage lighting. My only desire is to articulate the difference between restored and renovated. There are buyers who truly want restored lighting and others who prefer renovated. And I am a great supporter of diversity!     For the record, I sell restored vintage lighting.         A BIT ABOUT ME (Or: Who Is This Guy?)   As mentioned above, I have been restoring vintage lights since I was a teenager in the mid-1970s. An Interstate highway was being rammed through the city where I lived, and I ran (steps ahead of the bulldozers, and with my shag haircut flying) from one incredible building to another, and from one incredible house to another, and salvaged everything I could.   My poor, bewildered parents. Their garage was soon chock-a-block with what I thought were treasures beyond compare. And which they knew to be useless flotsam. (I did though once overhear my mom say: “Well, at least he’s not out doing drugs.”)   However, when all their boring lights were systematically replaced with the most stunning lights they had ever seen – and all for free, and rewired and restored – they soon had second thoughts about the flotsam. (I paid for new parts by mowing lawns!)   A brighter light soon proved too alluring though: New York City!   After a few excruciating years, the Gods decided to let up, and I found myself the proud owner of my own architectural design firm. At twenty-eight! It was the heady 1980s, the city was going through a spectacular revival, and I was overwhelmed – quite happily, thank-you – with one project after another. (I set a record for designing the most apartments in Trump Tower – eleven. Today, I usually keep this bit of infamy a secret.)   Yep, it was a wild time!   Then came the early 1990s crash, and a desire for a calmer life. Eventually rural Kansas beckoned, as surreal as this seemed. The peace I found on the prairie (golly, there really is a prairie) enabled me to get two books published (can you tell I like the written word?), and when I found myself with way too many old lights in the garage (my parents’ garage redux), I listed a few on eBay.   The rest, as they say…       AND, YES, MORE NOTES: ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY   All my fixtures are photographed in natural daylight. I do this because this is how they will look in your home. I use Very Large images, or you can enlarge them to get a much better view. All this helps to assure that what you see is, well, what you will get. Except that – and I write this based on experience – what you get will look even better than anticipated. And ain’t that a lovely experience!   Be cautious of images that are artificially lighted, or where a fixture is in a field of black (this is commonly seen). Be cautious also when you cannot enlarge the images. For, with black, small images (however alluring), can you really know what you are buying? In short, an alluring picture can be a very different thing than an accurate picture.       Looking for more great vintage fixtures?   VISIT MY EBAY STORE:   THE OLD ABOVE _____________________________________________________         Why a BUY IT NOW instead of a regular auction?   All my listings are for a BUY IT NOW. I do this because it’s effortless for me and you. There’s no guessing with my lights. You know right away if one of my restored fixtures is right for your budget. Another good thing? You can also, well, buy it. Now. No waiting. No worry that you will lose after waiting quite patiently for X days. No worry that a Them will abscond with Your light in the last four seconds; the light you have your heart set on. The light. The perfect light. There are likely worse things in life but at the moment I can’t think of one.     On Aug-16-08 at 21:01:56 PDT, seller added the following information: Place a Bid!