Wear a solid white shirt and a beautiful pendant necklace and after the first twenty compliments, the idea of a gorgeous chandelier translates into the perfect accessory with ease. Fancy, traditional chandeliers are like the wedding dress you get to drool over daily – but going for the stylish addition of a modern chandelier allows an entirely different fashion to dote on your interior design. In this week’s Top Ten list we’ll look at long, lean pendants, industrial steel and glass collaborations, and of course, a couple of quintessential designs from 1958 that have helped light up modern design as we know it today.

1. Modo
DESIGNER: Jason Miller
MANUFACTURER: Roll & Hill
PRICE: $5,500
Dimensions: 42″L x 42″W x 32″H

Made from aluminum and glass in a number of metal finishes, the Brooklyn-based Roll & Hills, with the design by Jason Miller, creates the Gothic-looking Modo chandelier. Made with 25-Watt medium base bulbs and a half silver globe, the clear or smoked glass and its 5-inch canopy create a less sparkly, chill sort of chandelier appeal.

2. Sethos Rectangular
MANUFACTURER: Currey & Co.
PRICE: $1,144
Dimensions: 42″L x 30″D x 23″H; 6″chains

This unique industrial looking chandelier contains eight lights along with all of the wrought iron and recycled glass you’d want to adorn your vertical space. The Sethos Rectangular fixture by Currey & Co. spaces the iron candles evenly, using the circular glass cutouts for a crystal effect. There are four lights on each side, and a double chain that opens up through the canopy to create just the right amount of space and brilliance to set the mood over a dining room table or hallway.

3. Pantalica
DESIGNER: Örni Halloween
MANUFACTURER: Artemide
PRICE: $5,900
Dimensions: 31.5″ – 55.1″ H; 39.5″ dia.

Incandescent lighting and handblown glass comes together in three different color schemes: mono-color black transparent, mono-color opaline milk white, or a crystal and opaline milk white combination. The Pantalica suspension lamp uses all of the metal components in chromed steel with a telescopic stem that can be adjusted to the perfect height at installation. It uses six, 60W incandescent bulbs and mounts to a standard electrical junction box.

4.Rockcoco Outdoor
DESIGNER: Studio Kees and DeMakersVan
MANUFACTURER: Fatboy©
PRICE: Available for purchase summer 2011
Dimensions: 62 cm W x 68 cm H

“Rockcoco is a modern take on the baroque style of the 18th century, during the reign of Louis XV,” comments our solid 3rings writer, Alicita Rodriguez, in a review of this outdoor chandelier earlier this month. She adds that it “is the crowning touch for your space” when she reviewed the Rockcoco Outdoor chandelier from Fatboy©, Studio Kees, and DeMakersVan earlier this year. It is clear, assembled by the end user, and includes an inner red wiring that helps give it modern charm to the tree-hung, LED-lit lighting design.

5. Danville Mica
MANUFACTURER: Pottery Barn
PRICE: $399
Dimensions: 26.5″ – 51.5″ H x 22″ dia.

Perhaps considered more of an Arts and Crafts era replica, the iron craftsmanship of the Danville Mica Chandelier by Pottery Barn comes with Champagne or Amber light-filtering mica shades. Inside, six spoke-like arms feature 60-watt bulbs or clear Filament bulbs for an extra special effect. The height of the Danville Mica varies from 26.5″ to 51.5″ while the canopy itself is a mere 5″diameter and 1″ high.

6. Big Bang Chandelier
DESIGNER: Enrico Franzolini and Vicente García Jim©nez
MANUFACTURER: Foscarini
PRICE: $1,374- 1,637
Dimensions: H 23.6″ x W 37.75″

The uber-architectural modern chandelier of the bunch, what is known as the Big Bang Chandelier speaks visually to its name. With what they’re calling a “powerfully structural luminous body” that is  “characterized by a play of shadow and light”, this exhilarating lighting fixture creates a totally new look above your dining table in white or a two-color combination of white and red.

7. Mod 2097
DESIGNER: Gino Sarfatti
MANUFACTURER: Flos
PRICE: $1,520- 3,480
Dimensions: 34.6″H x 35″ dia.

Designed by Gino Sarfatti for Flos in 1958, the diffused light of the Mod 2097 never gets old for mid-century modern fanatics. In fact, this gorgeous chandelier and its central steel column with straight chromium-plated or gilded brass arms comes in two versions -  30- or 50- 15w bulbs – and can add charm atop any modern or traditional interior project.

8. 14 Series
DESIGNER: Omer Arbel
MANUFACTURER: Bocci
PRICE: $320- 10,660
Dimensions: varies

Using multiple cast glass spheres, the Bocci 14 Series appears as if a 3D scene of bubbles were photographed and projected into a lamp that creates a “rich halo of light”. Hanging each encased pendant from a single, white rectangular canopy using 10-Watt bulbs, you can go for a single pendant, or cluster up to thirty-six pendants together for a layered, precipitous effect.

9. PH Artichoke
DESIGNER: Poul Henningsen
MANUFACTURER: Louis Poulsen
PRICE: $7,678 – 8,078
Dimensions: 18.4″ H x 18.9″ dia.

Originally designed by Poul Henningsen in 1958 for the Langelinie Pavilion restaurant in Copenhagen, the famous 72 leaves, 12 circular rows, and a 360-degree, glare-free construction of the PH Artichoke use reflection and redirected lighting to the highest power. Available in copper, stainless steel (brushed or lacquered) or white (wet-painted), this suspension chandelier is made from laser-cut steel and sits at the base of a 12 foot suspension using three, fine stainless steel aircraft cables.

10. Uma
DESIGNER: Giancarlo Tintori
MANUFACTURER: Nemo Cassina
PRICE: Available upon request
Dimensions: 31.5″- 118″ H x 39.4″ dia.

“Offering the same lustre and visual magnificence as its traditional forebears, and an even greater sense of allure and mystique,” the Uma Chandelier by Giancarlo Tintori for Nemo Cassina is a glimmering blur of steel and transparent metacrylate cones. Upon further inspection, the Milan-based designer desired this dramatic effect on purpose. His background is in fashion, retail, cinema and television production and his future will hopefully include more 80-watt bulbs – with the optional dimmer – to light up his eye for good design.

Hope you enjoyed our roundup of the Top Ten list of Modern Chandeliers!

Top Ten articles publish every Tuesday. Email 3rings@designerpages.com if there’s a category you’d like to see.