I bought a few sets about two years ago from our local nursery. I believe they are made by the same company.
They are really beautiful, because, as you say, they "twinkle" instead of flash on and off.
Try your local nurseries.

I'm still using Silvestri Twinkle lights from the early 90's.

Jim

To order:
Slivestri Twinkle Lights

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Much appreciated.

Jim,
Do you those inside or outside? You always do such a beautiful job decorating. You inspire.
Barb

Twinkling lights would be pretty but those flashing lights make me nervous.

Newdawn...I know what you mean. Is their a difference between twinkling and flashing lights?

livvyandbella...Tks for the props!

I use them inside in garland and I string them randomly in my tree.

Yes, there is a big difference between twinkling and flashing, twinkle lights are quite calming and very subtle.
Not a fan of flashing at all or god forbid....chaser lights.

Didn't even know that they still made twinkling lights. I need to order some. Love twinkling lights, flashing not so much.

The best random twinkling miniature lights were made by GKI/ Bethlehem. They used to be available in 35 and 50 light strings, then only 35. I'm not sure if they are still making them in 2011. Until the early '90s, Silvestri made quality 50 light random twinkling lights in multi-colors. I love these lights because they produce a gentle twinkling look and remind me of Christmas lights of yore.

You can purchase the GKI twinkling curtain light strings (commonly seen in shopping malls and hung vertically from great heights). These are essentially the same thing in white wire only and without the male add-on plug at the end. Search "GKI twinkling curtain snowfall lights". Better strings have 6 to 8-inch lamp spacing -- nothing less is acceptable to me.

There are other brands currently available (several on eBay right now) but GKI has consistently been the best for years.

I have found that the quality of the twinkling effect varies greatly among manufacturers. The best strings will have twinkling and ballast bulbs of similar voltage (so that the twinkle and steady lamps illuminate with equal intensity). I also have custom made these strings so that only 10 percent of the lamps twinkle (i.e, 5 in a 50 light set). This produces a subtle twinkle effect.

I've got a question for anyone still following this topic:

I have a string of Silvestri twinkle lights from 1991 that have worked without fail all of these years, until just now when I plugged them in after 2 years of storage- nothing happened; they did not light.

I did a thorough inspection and did not see any damaged wires, and I replaced a large number of questionable looking bulbs, but they still did not light up. I also did not find anything resembling a replaceable fuse.

I am stumped. The instruction paper went missing ages ago, so I don't know if there is a "leader" bulb somewhere down the string that needs replacing to activate the string, and there isn't any information about this online. I can only guess that Silvestri is no longer around.

Does anyone have the answer to this little puzzle? Can these lights be resurrected, or is the string dead and I should think about getting a replacement?

Ours are still working. As I recall, there are 2 different bulbs with that string...ones have a fatter filament to absorb the charge from the flashing ones. So you have to replace the right bulb with the right bulb. The other thing to check...don't remember if they have them, but some of the older strings have a tiny fuse in the plug which can be replaced....

TamarDick:

There is no special single bulb that makes the set twinkle. The Silvestris of that vintage used a 50/50 mix of ballast (steady burning) and twinkle bulbs. They alternated ballast-twinkle-ballast-twinkle, etc. The ballast bulbs are just regular bulbs (4 volts I believe) with a short filament. The twinkle bulbs (3.5 volts) are little taller and have a visible metallic strip in them. The twinkle bulbs should have a shunt, so even if one of them burned out, the set should still continue to light. Unless a lot of bulbs burned out (more than 10) causing a lot of stress on the remaining bulbs and eventual "cascade" where all the bulbs get too bright and burn out all at once in a spectacular display, I would suggest gently removing each lamp, one at a time, with the set plugged in. Check that each bulb is seated tightly in the base, with the two wires bent up clean and straight on the sides of the base that make contact inside the socket.

These Silvestri sets are some of the absolute best ever made, with nice tight wire twists, 8-inch lamp spacing, the lighter 24 AWG wire (pre-1997) and quality plugs and end connectors. Don't get rid of the set if you can't get the bulbs to light. You can always buy a new 50-light set and replace all of the bulbs using the original bases. I have many sets like this that I have renewed. The sets themselves are too nice to ever get rid of. Keep them forever and simply re-lamp the entire set as needed.

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