In 2022 the couple settled in Lisbon — home for Catarina, new for Benjamin — and a walk through the Feira da Ladra, the flea market in the heart of Alfama, sealed the project. They have been looking there and at other Portuguese markets ever since, for old glass to clean and restore. Of one shape they usually find a single example, sometimes two or three. Other shapes they have reissued, made to order in small batches by Portuguese glassmakers who copy period forms and the techniques behind them. Catarina has explained the name herself: Alfama is the old charm of a Lisboan neighbourhood and its authenticity, Chic the elegance and the refinement.

Estremoz marble has been quarried in the Alentejo, in the Évora district, since Roman times. Only quarry offcuts go into a base, so the stone under a globe is what would otherwise have been discarded. The second stone is Lioz, the pale Portuguese limestone of the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It comes as offcuts too, and the Pauline table lamp is the model that carries a Lioz base. Other bases are brass. Before any stone is cut, Benjamin models each base in CAD and prints a prototype — he came to the work through mechanical drawing, not lighting. Two small firms do the cutting.

Assembly and wiring happen in their own workshop: the globe seated on its base, the cable cut, the switch and plug fitted. The cable is Italian and new rather than salvaged, braided in fabric and CE certified, 90 cm as standard in round or twisted cotton depending on the model, and up to about six metres if a room asks for it. There are around ten cable colours and textures to choose from, plus the ceiling rose, the switch, the plug and the bulb type. The hand lamps need no installation. They are made to be plugged in, hung from a hook and moved when the room changes.