Wrench-Marked Lighting goes for unique creations with its light fixtures and multifunctional lamps

Tim Harty, The Business Times

He saw the light.

A light bulb went on in his head.

He had a bright idea.

Pick your cliché. Just know Adam Gentzler’s new business, Wrench-Marked Lighting, shines light via a craftsman’s hands and mind, and he envisions homes around Colorado and the nation being lit by his unique fixtures and multifunctional lamps.

It’s extremely easy to identify a lamp made by Gentzler. Just look for the brass, copper and iron plumbing fittings, valves, pipes, spigots, etc., that make up the unique lamp bases. A valve likely serves as the on-off switch.

And by unique, he means unique. No two lamps are the same.

“I never make the same one twice,” he said. “Some of them, I couldn’t make again if I tried.”

That he’s making them at all required a career change that falls back on his prior employment. The 39-year-old Gentzler said he worked for 10 years as an electrician, then 10 years in the water-distribution industry for Ute Water in Grand Junction.

“Kind of what made me think of it and get into it was I saw these water meters, and working in the water-distribution industry I learned I could do so much with them,” he said. “I can then lay clocks into them. I can put outlets into them. I can make cup holders out of them, cell phone holders.”

After saying he didn’t recall where the inspiration came from directly, Gentzler thought again and remembered the “light bulb” moment.

“I was laying in bed, and my nightstand was cluttered. I was like, ‘Man, I hate having to get up to turn the light on, so why don’t I make a lamp that will actually free up space on my nightstand?’” he said. “And so I came up with the functional lamp with the cell phone holder, cup holder, pencil holder, clock, outlet. It’s even a light, too.”

Every lamp has at least two functions to it. Some of them have seven, including – yes, you’re about to read this right – a water dispenser. Or perhaps better put: a beverage dispenser.

In addition to electrician and water-distribution skills getting used in Gentzler’s creations, a little bit of philosophy and humanity go into them as well.

“One of the main characteristics of Wrench Marked Lighting is that you can take a piece of brass that’s blemished, broken, been cast out, and you can do the hard work to it, and you can make it shine again,” he said. “And I think that’s something we can all relate to as people.”

Gentzler registered Wrench-Marked Lighting LLC with the state in March, and the business is based out of his Grand Junction home.

While his lamps are ready for sale, his light fixtures – a pendant, two types of chandeliers and two types of vanity fixtures – await inspection by an Underwriters Laboratories engineer. That may happen as soon as Sept. 10, and if they pass inspection, the fixtures will get the UL listing required for Gentzler to “market to interior designers and furniture showrooms across the nation.”

In recent weeks, some of Gentzler’s lamps have been displayed at Legacy Furniture, 1048 Independent Ave., Unit A-106, and Holman House Furniture, 2494 U.S. Highway 6&50. Now, he’s working on getting Up Valley, which for him means Glenwood Springs and Aspen, where he thinks his handiwork can find more customers with the means and mindset for his product.

“I really think people are going to get on board with the branding concept of: This doesn’t come off an assembly line,” Gentzler said. “These are tough-built light fixtures by tough people, and they are conversation pieces. You make a statement with them. … I think this will appeal well Up Valley, because a lot of people, they just want something nobody else has.”

Unique items that no one else has? Appealing to Aspen residents?

This is sounding expensive. Hence, it’s time to discuss price, and to be blunt: Gentzler’s lamps and fixtures aren’t cheap.

He does make some simpler ones that sell for a couple-hundred dollars to $1,000. After that, his lamps more likely reside in the $1,500 to $7,000 range.

Gentzler said he has sold eight lamps to date, and one went for $7,000.

“I’ve got something different here, that nobody else has come up with yet, and not only that, the materials I have to manufacture these, they’re very hard to come by,” he said.

Actually, Gentzler’s background in water distribution opens some doors for him. He knows people who are happy to help him, such as Ty Jones from Clifton Water, whom he said has been “awesome support.”

Gentzler believes in what he’s doing, so much so he didn’t go into Wrench-Marked Lighting as a side hustle. He went all in. This is his future.

“I’ve cashed out my retirement,” he said “I’m betting it all on myself. And this is what I’m gonna do.”

Gentzler mentioned he wrote a quote on a piece of cardboard that he held for a photo. It was an affirmation that he said was relevant to him at the time.

“I went with ‘No risk, no story,’” he said. “And I do believe that’s the case with my business, you know? I think we can play it safe in life, but we’re only going to get safe outcomes. I don’t want to be normal. I want to be exceptional.”

And he expressed his determination when saying he has the belief of: “I can make this work, and I’m going to make this work. You know, it might be 16-hour days. That’s OK. This is what I love to do, and it’s nice to have something of your own and be able to express your artistic abilities through your business.”

More About Wrench-Marked Lighting

Find more information about Wrench-Marked Lighting and view photos and prices of its products online at wrenchmarkedlighting.com,

And a name and style were born

Wrench-Marked Lighting owner Adam Gentzler knows you’re going to look at his lamps and think: steampunk.

He gets it, but he says his products are a new genre: Wrench-Marked.

The name comes courtesy of an observer of Gentzler’s work, as he said, “I was at an art show, and there was a customer, he was just going on about my stuff. And another customer walked by and he said, ‘Nice steampunk lamps.’ And the guy said, ‘That’s not steampunk. That’s wrench-marked.’

“So, it was kind of then I realized, ‘Maybe I’m building my own style here.’”

For what makes his lamps distinctive, Gentzler offered: “I’ve seen steampunk lamps, but nothing this functional. And nothing this unique.”

With his company named Wrench-Marked Lighting and manufacturing everything it sells, Gentzler wants to make the name resonate, and he revealed his ambition in saying: “I want to make Wrench-Marked Lighting a staple amongst lighting designs in Western Colorado to start, then Colorado as a whole, and then I want to move nationwide.”

Getting some national exposure

Gentzler talks about selling his lamps and light fixtures nationally, and he’s already taking initiative to make it happen.

He applied to be on a TV show called Legacy Makers, “and they liked my story,” he said. “They loved my product, so I packed the lamp and my luggage, flew down to Miami, and we shot the studio time, August 12th. …It was a pretty cool experience.”

Gentzler said it will air on Inside Success TV.

Gentzler and Wrench-Marked Lighting also were featured in an Inside Success podcast.

Gentzler believes in his company, which is why he walked away from 20 years of blue-collar work. 
He doesn’t lack confidence, but it never hurts to receive national affirmation, as he said, “When you see it can be recognized on that level, that gives me some confidence as well.”