Why are Serious Readers so expensive?
It is a fair question, and one we get asked all the time. Often by readers who used to finish a book in an evening, and now stop after a chapter.
What you actually get for the money.
The feeling.
The needle threads on the first go. The small print on the medicine bottle is back. The crossword you set aside last Tuesday becomes possible.
An hour later, your eyes still feel fresh.
The technology.
Your page looks like a page again. Black text reads black. Reds look red. Nothing is washed out, dim or off-colour.
That is what a rare purple chip and forty years of work get you. Our chip rebuilds the spectrum wavelength by wavelength. On the standard daylight measure, ours scores 98. Ordinary bulbs come in under 80.
The build.
You buy one once. Every part is built to be repaired, so when anything ever wears we put it right rather than ask you to replace the whole light.
Over a million owners in ninety-three countries are still reading by theirs. 99.4% keep theirs for the difference it makes.
What about a £30 daylight bulb?
A £30 daylight bulb sounds like a bargain. And in the shop, it is. Then you put it in the lamp above your chair and try to read.
The light is flat. The page looks dim. Colours come out wrong. Inside two years the bulb dies and you buy another. Over twenty years of evening reading, you will buy a dozen of them. Every one of them quietly tires your eyes a little more than the one before. And every evening you stop reading a little earlier than you meant to.
Or you buy a Serious Light once, and you read by it for the next twenty years.
I built the first Serious Light for my mum.
My mum had AMD. By the time the evenings drew in, she had given up on her crosswords and her novels. So I built her a daylight reading light. She finished her chapter that night.
Forty years on, we still hand-build lights in Aylesbury, and we are trusted by over a million readers in ninety-three countries.
Alex Pratt OBE|Founder
See clearly, without strain.
Ordinary bulbs flatten the contrast. The HD Light shows you crisp text and true colour.
Eyes strainThe text looks fuzzy and the colour looks dull.
Eyes stay freshThe text looks crisp and the colour looks vivid.
See the HD Light in action.
A one-minute walk-through. You will see the beam focus, the smooth dimming, the flexible arm, and the technology behind it.
Six things you will notice.
The moment you switch it on.
Light, your way
A dimmer wheel on the back of the head takes the light from a soft bedside glow to full daylight, matching the room you are sitting in.A dimmer wheel on the back of the head takes it from a soft glow to full daylight.
Hassle-free adjustment
The swivel joint and grab handle let you move the light over the page in seconds. There are no clamps and no knobs to fiddle with.You move the beam over the page in seconds.
Personal control
A beam-adjustment wheel on the front of the light engine narrows the beam to a tight reading spot, or widens it across the full page.A beam-adjustment wheel widens or narrows the light.
Flexible and stable
The arm bends to whatever angle you set, and stays there. It keeps the light on the page, not on the wall.The arm bends to your angle and stays there.
Plug and play
It arrives hand-built and ready to use. You unpack it, plug it in, and read by daylight that same evening.It arrives built. You plug it in and read.
Every detail considered
From the weight of the base to the finish of the dimmer wheel, every part is chosen for one job. That job is reading by daylight.Every part is chosen for one job. Reading by daylight.
Why readers stop buying ordinary lamps.
- Short life.It dies inside two years and you buy another one.
- Flat colour.Reds look brown and whites look grey.
- Scores under eighty.On the standard measure where daylight is a hundred, ordinary LEDs come in under eighty.
- Replace it.When it dies, you start over.
- Twenty-year life.You read by the same light for decades.
- True colour.Reds look red and the page looks the way it should.
- Scores ninety-eight.Ours comes in at ninety-eight on the same measure.
- Repaired, not replaced.If something fails, we put it right.
What owners say about the price.
Owners describing what changes when a Serious Light is on the table beside them.
“Once I turn the Serious Light on, my patients can really see the difference.”
Tracey Taylor Optometrist BSc (Hons) MCOptomTry one for ninety days.
We will not ask you to take any of this on faith. Read by an HD Original in your own chair, with your own books, for ninety days. If you cannot feel the difference, phone us or email us. We collect it from your door, free of charge, and refund you in full. 99.4% keep theirs for the difference it makes.
HD Original Floor Light
Best for: Armchair or sofa.
✓ 90-day trial✓ We collect it from your door✓ 5-year warranty
Order Floor Light →
HD Original Table Light
Best for: Desk, night-stand, small spaces.
✓ 90-day trial✓ We collect it from your door✓ 5-year warranty
Order Table Light →Half price applies with code EM2648 at checkout. New customers only.
Questions readers ask before they buy.
Yes. That is why you get ninety days to try one. If it does not change how you read, we collect it from your door.
Ordinary daylight LEDs start with a blue chip and fake the rest of the spectrum. Ours starts with a purple one and builds daylight properly. On the standard measure, ours scores ninety-eight where ordinary LEDs score under eighty. Most people see the difference within five minutes.
We will not. Cutting the price would mean cutting the chip, or the build, or the arm. None of those would make it a Serious Light any more. So we hold the price and stand by what we make.
No. Half price is a new-customer introduction. It is a way to take the risk out of trying one for the first time. The full price is what it costs us to keep building them the way we do.
Phone us or email us inside the ninety days. We collect it from your door, free of charge, and refund you in full. 99.4% keep theirs once they have tried one.
The warranty covers the electronics for five years. The light itself usually lasts a great deal longer than that. We still hear from owners reading by lights they bought twenty years ago.
Read by daylight for ninety days. Risk-free.
Read by an HD Original for ninety days. If you cannot feel the difference, we collect it from your door. 99.4% keep theirs for the difference it makes. Or call the workshop on 0800 028 1890.
See The HD Original →Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Hand-built since 1986.