Edition, made to order, bespoke — what the difference buys you

01Three routes, one workshop

The difference between these routes is not quality and it is not price bracket. It is how much of the object is already decided at the moment you commit, and therefore how much uncertainty each side is carrying. An edition piece is largely settled; a bespoke piece is a set of constraints and a search. Knowing which conversation you are in prevents most of the disappointment in this category.

02Limited edition

A fixed number of closely related pieces, numbered and recorded, with the number stated before the first one sells and never extended afterwards. You see the form before you buy, the lead time is the shortest of the three, and the variation between examples comes from the donor parts rather than from the design. What you give up is influence: dimensions, glass and finish are already chosen. Ask what the edition size is, whether artist's proofs are counted inside it, and whether there is a register — a studio that answers all three immediately is running the edition properly.

The part decides what is possible before we do.

03Made to order

The same design, built after you buy it, with the choices that do not change the structure left open: glass type, sometimes tint, occasionally height within a narrow band. Lead time is longer because sourcing starts when the order does. This is an honest category and often the sensible one when a piece has to work in a specific room, but it is not an edition: if the form can be built again next year, its resale behaves like a product's. We say so plainly rather than dress it in collecting language.

04Bespoke

A one-off built around a component that is not in the collection — sometimes one we source to a brief, sometimes one you already own and entrust to us. The form cannot be shown in advance, because the donor part is still being found and its exact geometry, distortion and wear are unknown until it is in the workshop. You receive dimensioned drawings and photographs of the actual part before the design is fixed, and that is the last moment the design can change cheaply.

05Which one to ask for

If you want a specific object and a predictable date, ask about the edition. If the room dictates a dimension or a glass choice, made to order is the shortest path to it. If you have a part with a history, or a space that no existing object fits, bespoke is the only route — but bring the constraints rather than a reference photograph, because a salvaged part will never match someone else's object and judging it against one guarantees disappointment. In all three cases the first question we ask is about the room, the floor and the access route, not about the budget.