The shades made of clear glass are treated to appear with alternate clear and frosted fields and are positioned so the frosted fields cover the clear fields underneath, allowing the shades to spread the light in a more diffused manner, while maintaining glare-free, downward directed light distribution. In addition, a neat round glass cup is placed at the top in order to prevent dust etc. from falling into the lamp.
Based on the PH three-shade system of the PH 5/5, the glass crown has four extra shades inserted between the three basic shades - all seven produced in very delicate, but also strong, Italian borosilicate glass.
In 1931, a smaller PH Septima 4 was launched based on shade sizes from the PH 4/4 lamp, where the original PH Septima 5 is based on shade sizes from the PH 5/5.