Ledon’s limited edition wooden LED bulbs appear as opaque solid wooden globes incapable of emitting any light, which makes the transition into a warm glowing bulb all the more stunning.

Ledon's limited edition wooden bulb appears opaque when the power is turned off. (Photo Courtesy of Studio Max)

The bulbs were created in partnership with young Japanese designer Ryosuke Fukusada, who designed the bulbs using a traditional Japanese wood carving technique known as Rokuro. According to Fukusada, he wanted to design bulbs that would emit a warm glow similar to torch lights. The handmade bulbs are painstakingly carved by turning pine on a lathe until the bulbs are only 2-3 millimeters thick. Ledon’s press release claims century old pine logs were hollowed out in the process of making the bulbs. 

The bulb transforms into a warm glowing torch when switched on. (Photo Courtesy of Studio Max)

A LED light is then placed inside the shell with a casing made from aluminum. LED was chosen to create the effect of a glowing torch, since the light source has lower thermal dissipation and is less likely to damage the wooden bulb from excessive heat.

The wooden bulb has an impressive pattern when shown in a dark background. (Photo courtesy of Ryosuke Fukusada)

The Wooden Light Bulb design won the Kyoto Renaissance design competition.  The complicated development process gives the bulbs a hefty price tag of EUR 2,000 (US $2,700).