Who is buying chandeliers in 2026?
Plenty of people. French crystal house Baccarat recently completed a commission from a gentleman in Asia who wanted three chandeliers for his garage, at a cost of 3.4 million euros.
Sales of exceptional lighting and other high-end items helped Baccarat report a 5 percent increase in revenues last year to about 200 million euros, chief executive officer Laurence Nicola disclosed in an exclusive interview, citing organic figures that strip out the impact of currency fluctuations.
“We really managed to accelerate,” she said. “The highest-end segments, those that best represent the expertise of a 260-year-old company — lighting, prestige pieces over 20,000 euros — drove major growth.”
Among exceptional pieces sold last year were 30-inch-tall Olympus Pegasus crystal figurines with real feather wings by Maison Lemarié and a supporting armature by Maison Goossens, both specialty couture ateliers owned by Chanel.
The Olympus Pegasus statue by Baccarat.
Courtesy of Baccarat
“The more a brand’s storytelling is rooted in excellence, craftsmanship and its own history and image, the better its chances of surviving economic crises,” Laurence said. “We have the highest number of Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (Best Craftsmen of France) and Meilleurs Apprentis de France (Best Apprentices of France) of any active French house. That speaks volumes about our ability to pass on the expertise accumulated over 260 years.”
Baccarat was founded as a collective of artisans in 1764 in the town of Baccarat, which is located between Nancy and Strasbourg in eastern France.
The privately held company is projecting revenues to reach 300 million euros by 2030 as it leans into its rare savoir-faire for chandeliers and decorative objects; expands its hospitality activity; reenters categories like jewelry, programmed for 2027, and launches into new territories like tea rooms and “nomadic” light fixtures.
Nicolas showed off an example of the latter: a bell-shaped crystal lantern that can be used for table decoration, or finding your way through a garden at night. About the size of a squash, it retails for 1,250 euros.
One of Baccarat’s new “nomadic” lighting objects.
Courtesy of Baccarat
“Tableware remains our primary business activity,” she said. “However, the fastest-growing segment is lighting. Lighting allows us to tell a story — one that is perhaps even more deeply rooted in our craftsmanship.”
Holding up a Harcourt tumbler on the table of the garden restaurant of the Maison Baccarat in Paris, Nicolas acknowledged “there are many players now who can produce similar-looking items.”
“But a Baccarat chandelier? That embodies excellence, whether baroque or minimalist, since we do both.…We are untouchable in that regard. We may be copied a thousand times over, but no one can make a Baccarat chandelier the way we do. So this is clearly an area where we are carving out a strong niche.”
Baccarat’s Zenith chandelier.
Indeed, many people now use Baccarat as a generic descriptor for an exceptional crystal glass or chandelier, she said.
The executive trumpeted robust demand for its Tsar Collection of glassware. “The price of each glass is around 3,500 euros, but you can create the most exquisite dining experience,” she enthused.
Baccarat also continues to nurture non-crystal categories, including lacquer trays, candles and its Maison Francis Kurkdjian Bacarrat Rouge fragrance, which ranks in the top 10 worldwide.
A longstanding player in crystal jewelry, Baccarat discontinued the line last year “because we felt that it was not consistent with the brand positioning and style.”
A spirited executive with a fun-loving streak, Nicolas touted Baccarat’s rare stature as an independent luxury brand. Since 2020, its main shareholders have been Tor Investment Management and Sammasan Capital. Under their leadership, the company raised nearly 60 million euros to finance the maison’s growth.
Nicolas said an envelope of another 90 million euros is available as Baccarat makes important capital expenditures, including on new furnaces to meet a 2028 deadline for all European crystal-makers to remove lead from their manufacturing protocol.
The French legacy brand, which also turned profitable last year, has “the luxury of being autonomous,” she said. “We can be cautious in our growth in order to not compromise the brand equity.…We don’t say ‘yes’ to every licensed business that wants to do something with us.”
According to the executive, Baccarat has benefited from the boom in home decor in the post-pandemic era, which has prompted scores of fashion brands to enter the arena and participate in important showcases like Salone del Mobile in Milan, to which Baccarat returned last April after a four-year absence.
It is also a natural and longstanding player in the hospitality segment via hotels, in partnership with Starwood Hotels, and restaurants, with Michelin-starred chefs including Alain Ducasse in Paris and Anne-Sophie Pic in Hong Kong.
The Anne-Sophie Pic restaurant in Hong Kong.
CAIYUNPU/Courtesy of Baccarat
Baccarat’s first hotel in New York City, in operation since 2015, boasts one of the highest occupancy rates among luxury hotels.
“We’re up there with the likes of the Aman and the Four Seasons in terms of average daily rates, and we have nine new hotels or residences in the pipeline for 2030,” Nicolas said.
These include hotels and residences in Rome, slated to open in 2027, and Dubai in 2028. Other projects are planned for Florence, Riyadh and the Maldives, while Abu Dahabi and Miami are residences-only developments.
“We always try to create something unique; we don’t want to just replicate New York. The idea is to offer a bespoke experience — always with a ‘French touch’ and a narrative centered on the French art of hospitality — an area where we have real credibility,” she said. “We’re looking at smaller properties — boutique-style, not massive hotels. We deliberately want to create intimate experiences that reflect who we are.”
Japan remains Baccarat’s number-one market, followed by the U.S. and Europe. China, whose downturn has been a bugbear for most luxury firms, accounts for “a very, very small share of our business,” Nicolas noted.
By contrast, “we have fantastic partners in Indonesia where business is skyrocketing, especially with architects and designers,” she said, also describing South Korea as “very strong.” Last year, Baccarat opened a bar in Seoul.
“We are totally legitimate in creating these kind of experiences,” she said. “What is Baccarat if it’s not experiential?”
Glasses from Baccarat’s Tsar Collection.
Courtesy of Baccarat
Nicolas also has high hopes for vibrant business in North America, leveraging strong consumer sentiment and the strong connections with architects and interior designers of the new president and CEO of the region Thais Roda. She was most recently president and CEO of Liaigre Inc., the American arm of the French design and architecture studio.
In total, Baccarat counts about 200 points of sale across the U.S. and Canada, but it continues to optimize the network. Units in Greenwich, Conn., and Palm Desert, Calif., are among those that recently went dark.
Nicolas described a more discriminating, curatorial approach to its distribution network, and its product range, which will probably shrink in terms of stock keeping units.
Meanwhile, the brand attracts customers of all ages, with Gen Z taking notice of Maison Baccarat, a dramatic and dreamy location for scenes from the fourth season of “Emily in Paris.”
“You might own Baccarat glasses at 23 and a chandelier at 55, once you have a bit more means,” Nicolas said. “We are fortunate to have a clientele that isn’t siloed at all.”
