Nearly twenty years ago, in the early days of our relationship, I bought my husband an Anglepoise. He opened it with the kind of genuine delight that's hard to fake. It's still going strong now, still doing its job on a desk, no fuss, no fading. Around the same time I gave him a casual Paul Smith shirt, another small thing that turned out to be exactly right, worn until it properly turned to rags. Between the two of them we learned something about what actually lasts as a gift, and what we personally have a soft spot for.
The original, still going after nearly twenty years.
Finding the floor lamp for the kitchen diner
When we needed a floor lamp for the kitchen diner, we looked at a lot of options before landing on anything. Then we came across the Anglepoise Type 75 in the Paul Smith Edition Four colourway. It is predominantly burgundy, deep and warm rather than bright, with the grey-green arm and a thin flash of fluorescent yellow at the joint keeping it from feeling too heavy.
What it's actually been like, four and a half years in
It does exactly what the original desk lamp has done for two decades, holds its position with no drift once we've set it, moves easily when we want it to, and hasn't needed anything from us beyond the odd dust.
What we've enjoyed most, day to day, is simply looking at it, the colour is genuinely nice to have around whether it's switched on or not. In the evening it's a good accent light rather than the main source in the room, we wouldn't rely on it alone to light the kitchen diner, but it does exactly the job we bought it for. The foot switch is a small thing but a genuinely convenient one, no fumbling for a switch on the cable in the dark.
It moved house with us. It's not in the same spot it held in the old kitchen diner, but it still works beautifully in the new one.
The Paul Smith signature, cast into the base.
The one thing worth knowing before buying
It's a little more delicate in scale than photos suggest, not a huge item, so it can get lost in a very large room. It's worked well in our spaces, but worth picturing where it's actually going before buying, rather than assuming it'll fill a big corner on presence alone.
Was it worth it?
We paid £197.63, after a 15% discount off £232.50, from Holloways of Ludlow. Four and a half years in, it's shown no wear and needed no attention, and it sits alongside a twenty-year-old Anglepoise that's still going in the same house. Judged against that track record, the price feels like the easy part of the decision.
The next chapter
We can't see a reason this one goes anywhere. It's already proved it works just as well in a new house as the old one, and going by the desk lamp, it could keep proving that for another fifteen years yet.
Still worth keeping?
- Durability
- Excellent. Four and a half years in, no wear, no fading, mechanism as smooth as day one.
- Design
- Anglepoise Type 75 floor lamp in the Paul Smith Edition Four colourway, predominantly burgundy with a grey-green arm and a flash of fluorescent yellow.
- Would we buy it again?
- Yes.
- Best for
- Suits smaller to mid-sized spaces best, it's a little more delicate in scale than it looks in photos.
