SI-432 Reproduction

The popular Twinkle lamp (SI-432) has recently been introduced in the retail market in a very exact looking replica. A picture of the reproduction and the original are shown below. Look at this picture before reading on and try to tell which lamp is the reproduction.

si-432a (30K)

Trying to find differences in the old and the new is not easy--especially if you don't consider the burner and collar, which can be easily replaced. There are some differences, but like other reproductions, they may be difficult to determine unless you have two lamps side by side.

The first thing to notice is that the both the base and shade of the reproduction have "Made in China" stickers on them. Of course, those are easily removed and often long gone before they are resold. Looking more carefully at the glass, however, some subtle differences can be seen. On the letters "TWINKLE" on the base, the original has sharp, crisp embossing with the letters perfectly aligned. A close-up shows the letters have very small, but distinct serifs on the ends of each letter. On the repro, the letter are very sloppy looking and certainly not as crisp. The top of the "L" is faint and almost disappears.

si-432reproLtrs-a (14K)

The stars on the base of the original are thin but sharp and form a perfect five-pointed star. On the reproduction, the lines are "fatter" and the star almost looks like it has a circle in the center. The shade on the original is much lighter (in weight) than the copy and also has crisp embossing. A big difference is that the original Twinkle shade has four small stars on the upper neck of the shade as shown in the picture below--the reproduction has no such stars. Both the bottom and the top of the reproduction shade have ground edges and the inside of this particular lamp has been ground a bit, apparently to allow better fit into the gallery.

si-432shade (49K)