Artemide Tolomeo Table

What it is

Tolomeo Table is Michele De Lucchi and Giancarlo Fassina’s articulated task lamp for Artemide — launched 1987, awarded the Compasso d’Oro in 1989 (ADI Design Museum: “revisiting of a traditional image together with high technological and performance content”), and still the clearest residential answer to “what desk lamp do you actually specify?” De Lucchi’s own line: no desk lamp should make you use two hands to position it. This listing centers the classic table configuration (extruded-aluminum arms + aluminum head + interchangeable support); the family also includes Micro/Mini, with-shade and Mega diffuser variants, floor, wall, and suspension.

Construction grammar: fully adjustable articulated arms in extruded aluminum; joints and tension-control knobs in polished die-cast aluminum; internal tension springs with stainless-steel external tension cables; tiltable and rotatable stamped-aluminum diffuser (Artemide NA: 90° in both directions); base in weighted steel with stamped aluminum cover (or clamp / desk fixed support / twin support). Spring-balance system holds pose without a second hand fighting the arm.

Integrated LED (official Artemide product card, code A0048W00, aluminium, 2700K): 8W, 737 lm delivered, 2700K, CRI 90, microswitch dimmer, 24V. Sister SKUs include 3000K LED (761 lm), tunable-white, presence-detector, and halogen-era body codes — confirm the exact card at order. Dimensions (same card): length 780 mm (30.7 in), height 645 mm (25.4 in), base diameter 230 mm (9.1 in); max extension height 1290 mm (50.8 in), max extension length 1220 mm (~48.0 in). Complete lamp = body + chosen support accessory (table base A004030, clamp A004100, desk fixed support A004200).

Price band (observed 2026-10-02): Artemide North America online store lists Tolomeo Table at $505 USD (regular price on that page; finish/LED/support configs move the ticket). Register at artemide.net/warranty within Artemide’s stated window for the brand’s 5-year material/manufacturing warranty offer. Authorized dealers (e.g. Hive and other Artemide channels) carry Mega floor and shade variants at higher bands — confirm live list before specifying a set.

This is articulated aluminum task lighting — empty lane on Luxury House List opposite sculptural floor/table pieces already covered (flos-arco-led, flos-taccia, flos-superwire-f) and pendant/sconce mood light (louis-poulsen-ph-5, bocci-28, apparatus-triad-1).

Who it’s for

Homeowners, architects, and designers who need aimable task light on a desk, library table, or nightstand — and want the Italian industrial icon, not a chrome copy with floppy joints. Strong when the room already speaks modern aluminum discipline, when one-hand repositioning is daily behavior, and when interchangeable base/clamp/inset support matters for furniture layouts that change.

Skip it if you want ambient room wash or a parchment statement shade (that job is Tolomeo Mega / with-shade family, not this aluminum-head classic), need a sculptural floor boom (flos-arco-led), or refuse anything that reads “office” in a purely decorative living room. Also skip unbranded “Tolomeo-style” arms; buy Artemide authentic.

Standout details

• Specs that matter (Artemide A0048W00 class, LED 2700K): ~30.7 × 25.4 in resting envelope · base Ø ~9.1 in · max reach ~50.8 H / ~48 L in · 8W / 737 lm / 2700K / CRI 90 · microswitch dimmer · extruded Al arms · die-cast Al joints · stainless tension cables · body + support system · NA store ~$505 observed · 5-year warranty with registration (confirm terms)
• Support menu: table base, clamp, desk fixed (inset) support, twin support for two independent bodies
• Craft signal: Compasso d’Oro series award (1989); spring balance hidden in the arms with external stainless cables — the mechanism people still copy poorly
• Tradeoffs: aluminum head is task-forward, not soft ambient; desk “office” silhouette won’t please every living-room brief; springs/cables are service items over decades of daily aim; knockoffs flood the category and train the eye wrong — specify Artemide

Who’s specifying

ADI Design Museum holds the Tolomeo series as a Compasso d’Oro winner (1989 jury citation above). Artemide and De Lucchi materials still frame it as among the world’s most recognized task lamps; the brand’s designer page calls Tolomeo Artemide’s world best-seller. Cultural visibility is broad (film/set presence is widely noted in Italian design writing) — that is cultural saturation, not a substitute for credited residential tours. No specific celebrity home install for this exact SKU is claimed here; treat placement as schedule judgment. Trade and authorized dealer paths (Artemide NA store, showrooms, dealers such as Hive for family variants) are how serious residential specs actually land.

Honest verdict

If Luxury House List already covers boom floors, uplight sculpture, and pendant/sconce mood, Tolomeo Table fills the empty “I need light I can aim every day” slot — and it fills it as the default, not a niche alternate. House Score 5 (Rare): this is the ≤1–2-per-lane exception the brief allows for a lane-defining primary option in articulated task lighting. Design, craft, and usability carry Rare; durability and value stay honest at 4. Draft until greenlit — specify aluminium LED 2700K with the support that matches the desk, and do not confuse it with Mega parchment floor versions when the brief is pure task. For serious homes that still have work surfaces, it remains the clearest Artemide answer in the family.