VL Ring Crown 1 Pendant

The VL Ring Crown was designed by Vilhelm Lauritzen in the 1940s for the Danish Broadcasting House. Never installed there, it was reintroduced in 2019 in its original form — polished brass with a mouth-blown opal-glass shade. The Ring Crown 1 is the single-shade pendant, bringing a warm, authentic touch to contemporary interiors.

Vilhelm Lauritzen was one of the founding figures of Danish functionalism, and Radiohuset — the broadcasting house he designed in Copenhagen — is among the movement's most celebrated buildings. Lauritzen conceived it as a total work of design and developed its lighting together with Louis Poulsen, a collaboration that gave rise to the entire VL series. The Ring Crown holds an unusual place in that story: drawn for the building but never mounted, it waited in the archives for decades before its 2019 reintroduction finally gave the design its public life. Where his contemporary Poul Henningsen pursued strictly calculated, layered shades, Lauritzen's manner was softer and more sculptural — and the Ring Crown 1, with its rounded opal-glass shade held by a slender ring of polished brass, distils that sensibility into a single, quietly luxurious form.

The mouth-blown opal glass is what makes the lamp in daily use. The whole shade glows evenly, casting a warm, diffuse light with no harsh shadows — flattering over a dining table, a kitchen counter or a bedside, where the single-shade format works beautifully as a space-saving alternative to a table lamp. In compact homes, including the smaller apartments typical of Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other dense Asian cities, a pendant hung low beside the bed or above a small table adds genuine designer character while leaving every surface free; the brass detailing catches the light and lends even minimal rooms a sense of warmth and craft.

The Ring Crown 1 sits naturally among the Danish classics in our pendant lamps collection — and pairs especially well with other brass-and-glass pieces from the same heritage. For more ideas on bringing this kind of warm, archival design into a tight floor plan, see our guide to designer lighting for small apartments.

Light source: E27 (E26 compatible), 1 bulb, max 40 W. IP20, indoor. Bulb not included — we recommend an E27 LED (1.6–7.5 W, 806 lm), 2700 K.