I need to edit that post for clarity - to say that the 2nd picture shows the fixtures in a larger size and in the shinier finish. I'd only want 8 or 10 or 12", what's shown is larger I think and I'm undecided on the shiny finish. I prefer the bronze, but I need opinions on the finish.

My sentence above made no sense. lol

In the bronze it looks sooo different! Way more old fashioned.

I am doing bronze fixtures from RH in my bathrooms, but using polished nickel faucets. My feeling was in an old house the lights probably would have been brass or a bronze finish. I think it will look good. Being matchy matchy would have saved me some stress, but I am finally feeling confident in my choice!

I wish manufacturers would show all the finishes. Restoration Hardware has lights and fixtures that they only show in one finish online, but in the bronze they'd look much different. It's not always easy to judge.

I'd definitely say they look old fashioned.

EXACTLY!!! lol. I'm going nuts. How on earth can anyone pick anything??

Wish I knew the difference between all the bronzes manufacturers name their colors. I'm going with a creamy glazed cab and using the bronze fixtures, also. IMO, the RH ones look very contemporary, almost industrial, like something that might be used in re-storing a warehouse loft to a home. It could be the finish on the ones pictured though. Going to check out the bronze. ;o)

I don't think they look contemporary at all and I like them very much. I think they would go nicely with what you have described.

Wish I knew the difference between all the bronzes manufacturers name their colorsOh! I totally agree. And you go into these lighting stores and no one has anything on display - only in catalogs. uggh. That would be fine if they even had ONE fixture in this finish...but no....

Thanks for the votes of confidence everyone.

Oh and I agree about RH - though some of it looks really old too, like turn of the century lighting that was original before people got fancy. lol. I like it but its all so shiny online.

I think those are very cool and old fashioned looking. I will say, though, that I think the ones pictured are 10" or 12". I would have thought larger, too, because they do look big, but they also look about the same size in diameter as the dinner plates below. Using those plates for a sense of scale, I'd guess those fixtures were either 10" or 12".

As for how big yours should be, on a 6' island with two pendants, I think I'd go for the 10" ones. We have three 7-inch pendants on a 7.5' island and they seem OK, but I think a little larger would have been nice.

i bet you're right, those must be the 12" and I noticed they only come in 8 or 12 (and larger).

I just finished laying out with a dinner plate (paper plate) and mine are 11" and that just seems too big to me, especially when the height of the fixture is factored in, they seem too massive..so I took a medium tupperware and that's 8" and that seemed a bit too small...but even the 8" fixture is 14" high which is pretty large, considering.

hmm...10 would be perfect I think. darn. I really like them. I wonder if I should just go with the 8....

I think they're really neat. Different from the norm, and yet neutral enough that you won't be getting tired of them or feel like they're dated a few years down the road.

I would go 8", but then I have 2 x 3" pendants on a 66" island, so you can see my bias. I mean 12" would be the size of a cabinet!

I am chiming in only to give a warning. Just today I felt like a kid at Christmas as all my light fixtures came in and I happily ripped open boxes to see them and place them in the right rooms for our electrician. I was really excited to see our pendants and over-the-sink light, as I had spent a considerable amount on the fixtures knowing that the pendants were going to be a fairly big focal point of the kitchen. I ordered the Pelham pendants (the smallest size, 8" I think, and they were plenty big) and the Randolph flush mount (10" and it looked pretty large). Both were in the "Historic Bronze" finish.

I took all three of them back to the lighting store where I ordered them today. :( I was so very disappointed in the quality of the pendants.

The Randolph fixture was actually fine - the HB finish was lovely and it felt like a solid metal fixture. The pendants were a different story altogether. They were, frankly, chintzy. All three were made in China (seems like everything is...) and the pendants looked and felt as if they were, just... cheap. I would have expected that kind of "quality" from a big box store clearance item and I am not kidding around. It was heartbreaking for me, since I had spent $250 a piece on these pendant lights. The flush mount was less, but it was better quality.

The strange part is that the fixtures were all "Historic Bronze" yet they were distinctly different looking. The pendants looked like a uniform browny-bronze sort oflike they had been spray painted a "bronze" color. The flush mount had more of a refined finish, like a hand-rubbed finish where the brass underneath comes through, especially on the edges. There was no "hand rubbed look" to the pendants AT ALL. Very blah. The "inside" of each pendant shade was also white, like an enamel substance, and they were extremely light weight, compared to the heavier flush mount piece.

In any event, I know this is long, but I wanted to warn you (and others) about what happened to me - the Hudson Valley pendant lights were underwhelming in every way. I couldn't have been more disappointed, especially since these are not cheap lights by any means.

I avoided a re-stocking fee at my store because it was so obvious the finishes were that different and the product (pendants) was so inferior and cheap looking. I looked again at the HV catalog and it said that the pendants were "solid brass" but they sure didn't appear to be. I don't know if Hudson Valley is going through different Chinese manufacturers for different fixtures or what, or why the discrepancy in quality and finish between the Randolph and Pelham pendants I received, but the bottom line is: buyer beware!

FWIW, I am going to order new pendants and a sink light from the Visual Comfort line. I had ordered a VC Reed Chandelier (opened today as well) and thankfully it was a great looking, quality fixture. VC is also fairly expensive for fixtures but at least the Visual Comfort fixture actually WAS solid and solid looking as well, in y opinion.

I know your original question was regarding the Hudson Valley old bronze finish, and I liked the HB Old Bronze color too (the Historic Bronze looked similar to the old bronze, with perhaps more of an aged patina.)

Sorry for the bad "review" but I just wanted to give others out in GW land a heads up about my experience with Hudson Valley. Good luck with your fixture hunt!

kpk

I LOVE those pendants in the bronze! I would go with the smaller size. Contemporary doesn't necessarily mean modern....just "in style!" I have similar colors as you described and my pendants are similar but I think I like yours more! Here's a pic of mine so you get an idea:

kaypeakay - I'm so sorry you had such a bad time with them. I will definitely keep that in mind. for what it's worth - they don't even have the pelham pendants on their website anymore...then again, they don't have the ones I want on their website either, so I wonder if they're carrying two different lines? weird.

socabath - yep, that's the look. What size are yours?

buffettgirl - these are only about 4-6 inches. The island is about 5 and a half feet long. So for you I think the 8 inches would be perfect!

ahh good...that sort of confirms my choice. I wanted them to be visually a bit larger than you had but not so overpowering.

socabeth: I just bought those pendants. How do you like them? The quality etc. They are going in a great room and I have to match them with a chandelier and fan do you think I am going to have a hard time mimicking finishes?

They don't look contemporary to me. I really like them!

LOL I forgot to post I really like the pendants you picked buffetgirl.

I have the Hudson Valley Randolph pendants in Historic Bronze. I have two of the smallest size above my island, and one of the larger ones above my breakfast room table. I'm not sure how to describe the color, but I really like it. It just looks like a nice ORB to me. And the quality of the fixtures seems really good, IMHO.

This is not the best picture, but it's the only one I have access to at the moment. I'll try to take more when I get home tonight.

In answer to your questions, I wouldn't describe Haverhill as contemporary at all. And I think the 8" would be a great size for a 6' island. My island is around 5', my pendants are 7" in diameter.

Hope this helps!

P.S. In case anyone cares: My cabinet hardware is from the Top Knobs Somerset Collection in "Old Iron". I chose this because the ORB didn't pop at all on my cherry cabs. "Flat Black" would have been fine, but the Old Iron had silvery undertones that I thought would work well with the stainless appliances. But - having a tendency to be matchy-matchy - I then had a hard time deciding what color pendants to use. Once everything was in, I realized it worked out fine - better than fine, actually - to mix the metals between the appliances, hardware, and pendants. :-)

Oops, in my P.S., I should have said "Black Iron" not "Old Iron". In case anyone cares. ;-)

And Buffetgirl, I LOVE the Haverhill pendants. Excellent choice!

thanks for all the help and pics and general rah rah rah-ing. :)

xoxosmom........not to hijack buffettgirls thread, but I'm very happy with my pendants. They seem to be good quality, and I didn't have any trouble finding another light fixture with the same "look!" I was also wanting the glass colors to be in the same tones, not to yellow, not too white etc.
Here's a pic where you can see the chandelier I purchased that blends with them nicely-

hijack away because I also need a light for over the table and I don't know what to get there...uggh.

I was just digging through some really old clippings of mine and noticed this post. Anyway - I also was posting some photos of the SGTG kitchen for a friend and I just realized that these Haverhill pendants (Hudson Valley) are THE pendants in that kitchen. Somehow I never noticed before. I have the Old Bronze color but that kitchen seems to have something shiney. http://www.lampsplus.com/products/hudson-valley-haverhill-12-inch-wide-polished-nickel-pendant__t1106.html

Just figured I'd post this in case people still were drooling over that kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hudson Valley Pendants - Something's Got to Give kitchen