Let there be dazzling lights!

IN A SENSE, Kittisak Jivavattanasak and Chularatana Arthasarnprasit are “accidental entrepreneurs” – they have experience in business management and marketing, but initially they only intended to sell off some of the chandeliers and lamps they’d brought overseas. The venture blossomed into a brand and a pair of stores in Bangkok – all called Bellitas – specialising in customised chandeliers. 

The couple derived the name from the romance languages to suggest “beautiful things”. 

The original store on Sukhumvit Soi 38 used to be their family home, converted in 2000 with vast amounts of glass. At the time they were offering items available nowhere else in the city, and fashion stylists, photographers and interior designers made good use of the elaborate lighting sets. 

For a while the couple had another shop at Siam Paragon, but their second branch is now at the Crystal Design Centre, opened in 2009. 

The stock is largely imported from the US, Italy, France and Spain. “We travelled to many places while studying in the US, so we know where we can get the finest and most beautiful chandeliers and lighting,” says Kittisak. 

“We ended up with loads of chandeliers and no place to left to use them in our home, so we decided to sell off the surplus,” adds Chularatana. “The designs are wonderful, the materials are top-quality and the craftsmanship is great, so they’ve proved very popular.” 

Chularatana has recently turned her hand to designing too, creating one-of-a-kind chandeliers, wall lanterns and floor and table lamps. Some of her pieces have been installed at the Chakri Bongkot Palace in Pathum Thani, Pimanmas Palace in Chon Buri and at the newly completed Royal Istana, a sultan’s palace in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, that was conceived by Bangkok-based architect Bill Bensley.

She also works with developers and has created lighting sets for hotels including the Sansiri, Okura Prestige Bangkok, Anantara Rajdamri and St Regis in Bangkok and the Crowne Plaza in New Delhi. 

“I have no basic training in design, but I love doing handicrafts, so I know how to choose materials to fit a structure and how to balance the different weights,” Chularatana says. 

The chandeliers in the Bellitas stores take every style and shape imaginable, from classic to modern to futuristic, and can meet most customers’ budgets, she says. “We’ve produced not only expensive crystal chandeliers and lamps, but also minimalist lighting, using several kinds of materials.”  

The materials include Murano and Venetian glass from Italy, bohemian crystal from France, hand-cut crystal from Austria, laser-cut brass from Morocco, lacquer work from Vietnam and stainless steel from China. 

The latest additions to the stock are an elegant Swarovski chandelier that looks like rain falling and a dazzling chandelier of Egyptian crystal and Murano glass that features a dragon and the number eight, invoking good luck and longevity according to Chinese tradition.  

Among the well-known brands they’re licensed to distribute are La Murrina, which does gorgeous work with blown glass, and Fine Art Lamps in the US, with its amazing colouring techniques.

 

 

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

>>The main Bellitas showroom is on Sukhumvit Soi 38. It’s open Monday to Saturday from 9 to 6. 

>>Call (02) 713 6558 or visit www.Bellitas.co.th and the “Bellitas.Thailand” page on Facebook.