Koch And Lowy OMI Floor Lamp

First of all, the Koch & Lowy OMI story is a HOAX! Someone with a lot of imagination has ever made this up… The same story with DMI.

Materials: Round black painted metal base with a chrome ring on top. Cast iron counterweight inside the base. Chromed iron rod. 3 brown-black painted adjustable elongated aluminium lampshades. Some chrome parts. Chrome OMI knee joints. Bakelite E27 sockets.

Height: 153,5 cm / 60.43”

Lampshades: ∅ 12 x 19 cm / 4.72 x 7.48”

Base: ∅ 24 cm / 9.44”

Electricity: 3 bulbs E27, 3 x 60 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one preferred.

Period: 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: To be appraised.

Manufacturer: Sölken-Leuchten, Arnsberg, Germany.

Other versions: This “Koch and Lowy OMI floor lamp” exists as a double and single light floor lamp. The lampshades can be found on several other lamps. Made in many colours. Also the base and rod can be found on several floor lamps with other lampshades.

Koch & Lowy

When you do a search on the internet for the OMI mark on the chromed knee joint, you always find lamps that are described as lights designed by Koch & Lowy for OMI. Koch & Lowy is not a design team, but an American light company and has got nothing to do with this floor lamp. Koch & Lowy used OMI joints for their lamps, hence the confusion. Today Koch & Lowy is owned by Chapman Manufacturing Company, Inc. from Avon, Massachusetts. Koch & Lowy used OMI joints for some lamps they produced and stamped their name next to the OMI logo, hence the confusion.

Some say OMI Switzerland, but there is nothing to be found about a Swiss company with that name. Others say OMI DBGM, because sometimes it is pressed on the knee joint.

DBGM is not some type of company, but it is German for utility model, “gebrauchsmuster” in German. Only used in Germany and Austria: Deutsches Bundes-Gebrauchsmuster. To say it simple, the knee joint is made by a company named OMI and the system is licensed for some period, most of the time 10 years: the small brother of a patent. 

Sölken-Leuchten

Josef Sölken GmbH & Co. KG Leuchtenfabrik was founded in january 1950 as a family business. Over the years they produced and sold many lamps. Many of them were also sold by Massive from Belgium. The company Sölken was declared bankrupt in 2001, it had been in trouble for some time. Sölken-Leuchten was a client of OMI and used OMI parts for most of their lamps with some joints in it.

The Briloner lighting company owned by the Hustadt family has taken over the high-voltage system and in the low-cost Soelken systems compatible systems. The rest of the company was acquired by S-Leuchten Verwaltungs GmbH, also from Arnsberg. Today Sölken-Leuchten is owned by Stefan Schrader from Lichtservice Schrader in Hamburg.

OMI

The OMI company is Otto Meinzer GmbH & Co Metallwarenfabrik from Iserlohn in Germany (Otto Meinzer Iserlohn). It is a manufacturer of chromed brass joints for the lighting industry. The joints are marked with the OMI mark. The company was founded more than 50 years ago. They never produced lighting.

Companies that use OMI parts are among others: Atelje Lyktan, Sweden, Massive, Belgium, Fase, Spain, Hustadt Leuchten, Germany, Abo Randers, Denmark, Steinhauer, The Netherlands and many more.

Another joint maker that is often linked on the Koch & Lowy story is DMI.