The light arrived well packaged and secure, with NO breakage, which is something I was a little worried about considering the shades are all glass.  The shades are nice and sturdy, made with fairly thick glass.  The only downside is that the shades are not removable for cleaning or replaceable if they break.  The description states that the metal on the fixture is black -- but do note that it isn't a solid black.  It has a brushed/distressed look to it, which makes it more of a charcoal colour.  I think it will still work in our application though.  We haven't actually hung the fixture yet as it is going into a renovation, so I will add a photo once that happens.