Two chandeliers both listed as 120 cm are not comparable until nine fields are written the same way. We counted those fields in the specification block of our own 573 chandelier listings: the median listing states three of the nine, 63 label names are in use, and no listing states a weight.
The nine fields that make two chandeliers comparable
A specification is comparable when nine fields are stated for both fixtures in the same units and under the same definition. The nine are diameter at the widest point, overall height and drop, supply voltage and frequency, body material, finish, lamp count, whether lamps are included, hanging hardware and wire length, and weight. Each one changes either the fit, the electrical work, the freight or the price, so a missing value cannot be filled in later without asking the supplier, and a blank in any one of them turns a 120 cm fixture into a question mark. The list is deliberately short: it excludes decoration, style labels and marketing copy, because none of those can be measured against a second quote. What follows is the audit we ran on our own catalogue, field by field, so you can see how often each one is actually written down rather than assumed.
| Field | What the value has to say | Why a blank breaks the comparison | Chandelier listings carrying it (n = 573) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diameter | Widest point across the frame, with unit | Sets the size against a table, a stair void or a ceiling rose | 326 |
| Height and drop | Body height plus minimum and maximum overall drop | Decides clearance to the floor and to the stair nosing | 163 |
| Voltage and frequency | 120 V or 220–240 V, 50 Hz or 60 Hz | A fixture built for the wrong supply needs a transformer or a rebuild | 430 |
| Body material | Frame metal and the glass or crystal type | Material tier is the largest single driver of price | 347 |
| Finish | Named finish, not a colour word | Two finishes at the same price are rarely the same process | 88 |
| Lamp count | Number of lamps the fixture is built for | Lamp count sets the load and the light output | 156 |
| Lamps included | Whether lamps ship with the fixture | Changes the landed cost by the price of the lamp set | 151 |
| Hanging hardware | Chain, rod or cable, with the supplied length | Decides whether the fixture can reach the ceiling height | 211 |
| Weight | Net weight and crated weight, with unit | Sets the ceiling fixing, the lift and the freight class | 0 |
The order matters. Diameter and drop decide whether the fixture fits at all, so they come first; weight and hardware decide whether it can be installed and shipped, so they come last. A quote that answers the first two and skips the rest is a quote for a shape, not for a fixture.
What the price ladder looks like once those fields are fixed is measured separately in oversized chandelier cost by size.
Diameter is the one field almost every listing gets right
Diameter is the field with the best coverage in the catalogue and still the one most often read wrongly. Counting the copy rather than the labelled field, 526 of 573 chandelier listings state a diameter with a unit, 446 of them give inches as well, and 80 give centimetres only. The measurement convention is the widest point of the frame with the crystals in place, measured across the arms and not across the chain, and it is a trade convention rather than a standard, so a supplier who measures to the outer crystal tips will read 3 cm to 6 cm larger on the same fixture. Convert before comparing: 120 cm is 47.2 in, and a listing that says 47 in is describing 119.4 cm. When one quote is in inches and the other in centimetres, the difference between 46 in and 120 cm is small enough to look like a rounding error and large enough to change the fit over a table.
The second reading error is what the diameter is being compared against. A chandelier over a dining table is compared with the table width, and a chandelier in a stair void is compared with the opening, so the same 120 cm fixture is generous over one and modest in the other.
Height and drop are two different numbers
Height and drop are different measurements, and a listing that gives one without the other cannot be compared. Body height is the fixture itself, from the top of the frame to the lowest crystal; drop is the distance from the ceiling to the lowest point, so it equals body height plus chain, rod or cable. In the catalogue, 163 of 573 chandelier listings carry a height field, spread across three label names: Height Range in 119 listings, Height / drop range in 28, and Height in 17. The rest describe height in prose or not at all. Worked example on a 300 cm ceiling: if the lowest crystal must sit 210 cm above the floor, the maximum drop is 90 cm, and a fixture with a 60 cm body leaves 30 cm for the suspension. That 210 cm clearance is a convention used in lighting layout, not a building code requirement, and local rules and the room use can move it.
Over a staircase the clearance is measured vertically from the tread nosing rather than from the floor, which usually buys another 15 cm to 20 cm of drop on the same fixture.
Chain, rod and cable are not interchangeable at the same drop. The supplied length, the ceiling fixing and the fixture weight each change the answer, and chandelier chain, rod and cable suspension sets out how to put all three on one line of a specification.
Voltage, material and finish carry most of the price
Three fields carry most of the difference between two quotes at the same diameter, and all three are easy to leave blank. Voltage appears in 430 of 573 chandelier listings, body material in 347, and finish in 88, which is 15.4% of the catalogue. Material and finish are separate fields: crystal is a body material and says nothing about grade, and a listing that names K9 crystal is naming a grade, which 16 listings do under a Crystal grade label. A finish is a process, so polished nickel, brushed nickel and nickel-plated steel can all be described as nickel while behaving differently on a coastal site. Voltage decides whether the fixture can be connected at all: a fixture wired for 220–240 V on a 120 V circuit will not run correctly, and a fixture wired for 120 V on a 230 V supply is a safety problem rather than a dimming problem. Ask for the voltage in writing on the order, not in a chat message.
Grade and finish are separate questions and are often confused in a quote. Crystal, glass and metal: what the material line means explains which part of a fixture each label describes.
| Field | Listings carrying the label | Share of 573 | What to ask when it is blank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voltage | 430 | 75.0% | Which supply was the fixture wired for, and is the driver or transformer matched to it |
| Body material | 347 | 60.6% | Which parts are crystal, which are glass, and what the frame metal is |
| Finish | 88 | 15.4% | The named finish process, and a sample photograph in daylight |
| Crystal grade | 16 | 2.8% | The grade name and what it changes against the next grade up |
Lamp count, lamp inclusion and hanging hardware
Three more fields decide the electrical work and the installation. Lamp count appears in 156 of 573 chandelier listings, lamp inclusion in 151, and hanging hardware with wire length in 211. Lamp count is not decoration: it sets the connected load, and the connected load sets the dimmer rating and the circuit. Twenty-four lamps at 4 W each is 96 W, which is 0.8 A at 120 V and 0.42 A at 230 V, and that difference decides whether a 100 W dimmer is comfortable or marginal. Lamp inclusion changes the landed cost, because a 24-lamp fixture that ships without lamps needs 24 lamps bought locally before the fixture can be commissioned. Hanging hardware decides reach: a 300 cm ceiling with a 90 cm maximum drop leaves 30 cm of chain on a 60 cm body, and a listing that gives wire length but not chain length is answering a different question.
Lamp base, socket standard and the light output of a multi-lamp fixture are covered in crystal chandelier bulbs, sockets and lumens.
Weight is the field nobody writes down
Weight is the field with no coverage at all: none of the 573 chandelier listings states a weight value, and none carries a weight label. That is a real gap rather than a formatting detail, because weight drives three decisions at once. It sets the ceiling fixing, since a fixture that needs a structural anchor is a different installation from one that hangs on a standard box. It sets the handling, since anything above roughly 25 kg is a two-person lift and above 50 kg usually needs a hoist or a lift system. It sets the freight, since carriers price by chargeable weight and crated volume rather than by the fixture alone. Ask for two numbers, not one: net weight of the fixture and crated weight for shipping, in kilograms and in pounds, because 1 kg is 2.205 lb and a supplier quoting 40 kg is quoting 88.2 lb.
The fixing side of the same question, including what a ceiling has to carry, is set out in chandelier weight and ceiling load.
63 label names for one catalogue
The catalogue uses 63 distinct label names across 11,066 label instances, and the same field is often named two ways. Product Type appears in 357 listings and Product type in 216; Price Range appears in 354 and Price range in 154; Colour Rendering Index (Ra) appears in 127 while CRI (Ra) appears in 3. The pattern repeats across the smaller fields, and it is the reason a field can look present in one listing and absent in the next when both fixtures were specified to the same template. The divergence is not random: it follows the order in which the templates were applied, so a listing written in one batch carries the capitalised label and a listing written in a later batch carries the sentence-case one. For a buyer comparing two quotes the practical effect is simple and unforgiving. A keyword search for Finish finds 88 listings, while the same field under another name would find none. Search by value, not by label.
| Field | Label variant A | Label variant B | Listings carrying the field |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product type | Product Type, 357 | Product type, 216 | 573 |
| Price range | Price Range, 354 | Price range, 154 | 508 |
| Size | Size Range, 324 | Size, 8 | 326 |
| Height | Height Range, 119 | Height, 17 | 163 |
| Colour rendering | Colour Rendering Index (Ra), 127 | CRI (Ra), 3 | 130 |
| Lamp inclusion | Bulb Included Or Not, 141 | Light source included, 7 | 151 |
| Body material | Material, 344 | Main Body Material, 3 | 347 |
Capitalisation looks trivial and is not, because it is the visible symptom of a template that was applied in more than one pass. A supplier whose own catalogue names the same field two ways will also answer the same question two ways when a project is specified.
The extended block: 211 listings carry eight extra fields
A block of eight extra fields appears in 211 of 573 chandelier listings and in none of the remaining 362: Customisable, Hanging Method, Indoor / Outdoor Usage, Installation Type, Light Direction, Sloped Ceiling Adaptable, Specific Uses and Wire Length. Two listings of similar fixtures can differ by eight fields, which means the shorter one cannot answer questions about sloped ceilings, installation type or custom sizing even though the fixture may be built to order in exactly the same way. The pattern also explains why a buyer who filters by one field can miss half the catalogue: the eight fields cluster in one batch of listings, so a search that requires Wire Length returns 211 results and hides the other 362 fixtures that can still be built with a stated wire length. When you compare, treat the eight extra fields as a checklist of questions rather than as evidence that the shorter listing is a lesser fixture. Ask them explicitly, one per line, and put the answers on the quote.
That practice is also the reason a made-to-order order confirmation usually runs longer than the public listing. The listing describes the fixture; the confirmation fixes the values the workshop will build to.
How to run the comparison in five lines
The comparison itself takes five lines per quote and about 20 minutes for a pair, and doing it this way keeps the exercise from turning into a reading test. Write the nine fields as rows, put quote A and quote B in the next two columns, and leave the fourth column for the question you still need to ask. Convert every value to one unit set before you start, so centimetres and inches never sit in the same row, and treat a blank as a question rather than as a zero. Then check the three arithmetic relationships that catch most mismatches: drop minus body height must equal the suspension supplied, lamp count times lamp wattage must be below the dimmer rating, and diameter must be measured at the same point on both fixtures. Anything that cannot be answered from the two documents is a question for the supplier, and it is cheaper to ask before the order than after the crate arrives.
| Line | Quote A | Quote B | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diameter, widest point | Measured across the arms or across the crystals | ||
| Body height | Top of frame to lowest crystal | ||
| Minimum and maximum drop | Chain, rod or cable, and how much is supplied | ||
| Voltage and frequency | Which supply the fixture was wired for | ||
| Body material and finish | Frame metal, glass type, named finish | ||
| Lamp count and inclusion | Lamps in the crate, or bought locally | ||
| Hanging hardware | Chain length and ceiling fixing type | ||
| Net and crated weight | Both numbers, in kg and lb | ||
| Lead time and approval drawings | What is signed off before production |
When a specification cannot settle the question
A field-by-field comparison decides fit, electrical work and freight, and it does not decide four things. It does not prove that a ceiling can carry the fixture: that needs the fixing point, the structure above it and, for a heavy piece, a structural engineer. It does not prove that the electrical circuit is adequate: that needs an electrician on site, because the circuit, the switch wiring and the dimmer are outside the fixture. It does not prove that the fixture suits the room visually, since proportion on paper and proportion in a stair void are different judgements. It does not replace a listing or approval for the jurisdiction where it will be installed, which is a separate question from any value on the quote. For those four questions a specification is not the right choice of instrument, and a 90 cm drop that satisfies the arithmetic can still be wrong on site. Use the nine fields to shortlist, then use a site visit, a drawing and a sample to decide.
FAQ
Is a 120 cm chandelier the same as a 47 in chandelier? Nearly. 120 cm is 47.2 in, so a listing that rounds to 47 in is describing 119.4 cm, a difference of 6 mm, which does not change the fit.
Why does the same fixture show different heights on two sites? Because one figure is body height and the other is overall drop, and the drop depends on how much chain, rod or cable is supplied.
Should weight stop me buying a large crystal chandelier? It should change the plan rather than the purchase. Ask for net and crated weight, then have the fixing point checked before the crate is booked.
What if the supplier will not give a voltage in writing? Treat the order as unresolved. Voltage is a build instruction, not a preference, and it belongs on the confirmation.
Do the counts in this article describe the market or one catalogue? One catalogue, ours, measured on 6 November 2026. They describe how often each field is written down, not how often fixtures are specified correctly.
Sources and numbers for every figure
Every catalogue figure below was counted on 6 November 2026 from the live Shopify catalogue of 1,829 active products, with 573 of them typed Chandelier, reading the labelled specification block in each product description and counting a field as present when its label appears. The label counts are direct readings and the exact label string is named for each figure, so a count can be reproduced. Percentages are the count divided by 573. The diameter counts in the second section use a different rule and are stated separately: a diameter with a unit anywhere in the title or the stripped description, matched as digits followed by cm, in, inch or inches. The clearance of 210 cm above the floor, the widest-point measuring convention and the rounding to whole inches are industry conventions rather than standards, and they vary by market and by fixture. Unit conversions are arithmetic and are shown so they can be checked by hand.
| Figure | Value | Source | Nature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active products in catalogue | 1,829 | Shopify catalogue, 6 Nov 2026 | Direct read |
| Products typed Chandelier | 573 | Same catalogue | Direct read |
| Distinct specification label names | 63 | Count of unique label strings in the labelled block | Direct read |
| Label instances | 11,066 | Count of all labelled rows across 573 listings | Direct read |
| Median fields stated per listing | 3 of 9 | Count of the nine fields present per listing | Direct read |
| Listings stating three fields or fewer | 318 of 573 | Same count, lowest bucket | Direct read |
| Listings stating all nine | 0 of 573 | Same count, highest bucket | Direct read |
| Diameter field present | 326 of 573 | Labels Size Range, Size | Direct read |
| Height or drop field present | 163 of 573 | Labels Height Range, Height / drop range, Height | Direct read |
| Voltage field present | 430 of 573 | Label Voltage | Direct read |
| Body material field present | 347 of 573 | Labels Material, Main Body Material | Direct read |
| Finish field present | 88 of 573 | Label Finish | Direct read |
| Lamp count field present | 156 of 573 | Label Number of Light Sources | Direct read |
| Lamp inclusion field present | 151 of 573 | Labels Bulb Included Or Not, Bulb Included, Light source included | Direct read |
| Hanging hardware and wire field present | 211 of 573 | Labels Hanging Method, Wire Length | Direct read |
| Weight field present | 0 of 573 | No weight label in any listing | Direct read |
| Listings with all eight extended fields | 211 of 573 | Eight named labels present together | Direct read |
| Listings without the extended fields | 362 of 573 | 573 minus 211 | Arithmetic |
| Diameter with a unit in the copy | 526 of 573 | Digits followed by cm anywhere in title or body | Direct read |
| Diameter also given in inches | 446 of 573 | Digits followed by in, inch or inches | Direct read |
| Diameter in centimetres only | 80 of 573 | 526 minus 446 | Arithmetic |
| 120 cm in inches | 47.2 in | 120 divided by 2.54 | Arithmetic |
| 47 in in centimetres | 119.4 cm | 47 multiplied by 2.54 | Arithmetic |
| 210 cm in inches | 82.7 in | 210 divided by 2.54 | Arithmetic |
| 1 kg in pounds | 2.205 lb | Constant | Arithmetic |
| 40 kg in pounds | 88.2 lb | 40 multiplied by 2.205 | Arithmetic |
| Connected load, 24 lamps at 4 W | 96 W | Multiplication | Arithmetic |
| Current at 120 V | 0.8 A | 96 divided by 120 | Arithmetic |
| Current at 230 V | 0.42 A | 96 divided by 230 | Arithmetic |
| Minimum floor clearance under a chandelier | 210 cm | Lighting layout convention | Convention, not a standard |
| Diameter measured at the widest point | Widest frame point | Trade convention | Convention, not a standard |
| Handling threshold for a two-person lift | About 25 kg | Manual handling guidance | Convention, varies by site |
| Diameter difference when measured to the crystal tips | 3 cm to 6 cm | Trade practice | Judgement, varies by fixture |
| Extra drop gained by measuring from the stair nosing | 15 cm to 20 cm | Worked example | Judgement, varies by stair |
| Time to compare a pair of quotes | About 20 minutes | Working estimate | Estimate |
| Dimmer rating in the worked example | 100 W | Chosen to bracket the common case | Example, not a product |
The published diameter range and the option counts per listing sit on a separate reference page, chandelier specifications, which lists what the range carries rather than how to compare two quotes.
The comparison example of a 300 cm ceiling, a 210 cm clearance, a 60 cm body and a 90 cm drop is a worked example chosen to bracket the common case, not a measurement of any product. Where the article says a dimension reads 3 cm to 6 cm larger when measured to the outer crystals, that is a judgement about trade practice rather than a sample of fixtures.