9 ms·

Visiting the annual Braun collectors fair

242 points by farslan 2y ago

simple10 2y ago
Braun has an incredible design legacy. I had no idea there's an annual collectors fair. Add that to my bucket list.
RapperWhoMadeIt 2y ago
Hi Fatih, I just wanted to let you know that I am a very avid reader of your email newsletter. I really get happy every time an email with one of your new articles arrives at my inbox. Thanks to your reviews of keyboards I will hopefully soon be able to get one of them myself. In summary, I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to write the articles. It's definitely more time consuming than tweeting (I don't have a twitter account at all, I dislike the atmosphere there and I also prefer to consume longer texts with more content), so I just wanted to let you know that there's a bunch of people out here reading your texts and enjoying them!
- farslan 2y ago
  Hi there. Thanks a lot for the kind words. One of the reasons I started to spend more time on my blog is because of the reasons you listed. I know X/Twitter has still its place, but I've discovered that people like to read long-form with nice pictures.
  - imp0cat 2y ago
    Subscribed! I am more of a Bosch fan though. Braun appliances are a bit "too much retro" for me. ;)
maxglute 2y ago
Apart from watches, Braun design language last couple decades have felt pretty uninspired.
- farslan 2y ago
  I agree. However since 2009 the Head of Design has been Oliver Grabes, and I love where is he heading. He started to think more about legacy Braun design and started incorporating old design elements in their never elements.
  - zemvpferreira 2y ago
    Personally I don't think you can capture lightning in a bottle twice. Dieter's principles were absorbed into the culture, which is really as good as it gets. Resulting of course in Apple, the current apex of industrial design. Important product categories are different, households are different, mass manufacturing processes are completely different. Braun pushed the envelope so much. Designing products now using the language of the 20th century seems...to miss the point at the least. Nothing against Oliver's work, but for Braun to be a true design powerhouse again would take a clean slate, and I don't see how that can be done.
jrmg 2y ago
I’d love to read an account of the ‘fall’ of Braun. Through my adult life, basically the only thing it makes that are still ubiquitous are electric shavers - which are great shavers, but hardly icons of design. Was there internal drama that led to this contraction in the diversity of what they made? Did it happen fast or slow? I feel like there must be a good story in there.
- farslan 2y ago
  If you're interested Dieter Rams itself goes into it a little bit in the "Rams" documentary. But it all happened after Gillette acquired Braun in the 1970's.
- moritz 2y ago
  Sold to Gilette in 1967, expansion into many different areas after. Then, I guess their story is not really unique, they shared the fate of all European household appliance manufacturers — increasing competition from Asian companies, so by the 1990s, Braun was dead. After Procter & Gamble bought them in 2005, it now mostly exists as a brand to be licensed (everything other than shaving and electric toothbrushes).
  - Reason077 2y ago
    And now days the toothbrushes use the "Oral-B" brand, so Braun is only really known (in international markets) for shavers.
    - shiroiushi 2y ago
      No, the electric toothbrushes are called Braun in markets outside the US. I've only seen them labeled Oral-B in the US. Also, they're pretty lousy toothbrushes IMO. I recommend Panasonic ones instead.
      - eru 2y ago
        > No, the electric toothbrushes are called Braun in markets outside the US. In some markets, maybe. In some other markets outside the US, they also use the Oral-B brand.
seabass-labrax 2y ago
The Design Museum in Brussels[1] also has a sizeable collection of Dieter Rams and other Braun items. The theme of the permanent exhibition is polymers, so there's everything from little electronic devices to whole modular plastic storage units on display. I'd highly recommend it! [1]: https://designmuseum.brussels https://designmuseum.brussels
- bch 2y ago
  > The Design Museum in Brussels also has a sizeable collection of Dieter Rams and other Braun items. Museum Angewandte Kunst (Museum for Applied Art)[0] in Frankfurt, too. [0] https://www.museumangewandtekunst.de/de/besuch/ausstellungen/dauerausstellungen/dieter-rams-ein-stilraum/ https://www.museumangewandtekunst.de/de/besuch/ausstellungen... Edit: And in English - https://www.museumangewandtekunst.de/en/visit/exhibitions/permanent-presentation/dieter-rams-a-style-room/ https://www.museumangewandtekunst.de/en/visit/exhibitions/pe...
willcipriano 2y ago
That's peak design for me.
Xenoamorphous 2y ago
I’m 44 and to this day I still use my very fist Braun electric shaver. I don’t even know the model, but it looks just like one with a blue button in the pic in the article, although the case is different and the blue is darker in mine. The only issue it has is that I have to place the connector in a very specific position or it won’t charge. I think it’s going to outlive me.
- tcbawo 2y ago
  I had a Braun shaver for a very long time — long after the battery had died. It worked great while plugged into the wall, which was fine because I kept it in the bathroom next to an outlet. I switched to a new shaver after receiving one as a gift. I had no idea that modern shavers (maybe most electronics these days?) only run from the battery, rather than passing through from the wall. It’s a reminder of a time before forced obsolescence that I miss.
  - imp0cat 2y ago
    OTOH, not being connected to the mains is probably a lot safer, especially if you use it in the bathroom.
    - tcbawo 2y ago
      Possibly. Although with GFCI sockets, I was not as concerned.
stadt 2y ago
If you love "everyday objects from the 20th century, especially electrical appliances" and are in Valencia, Spain, then checkout the Alfaro Hofmann Collection which has some lovely Braun pieces shown in the context of many other designs: https://www.alfarohofmann.com/en/holdings/s?filtered=1&fabricante%5B18%5D=b62dd147-e998-4192-bcd3-62e93069b161&fabricante%5B19%5D=00e60ffe-8c64-4b94-bcd4-ff0c97e60ad1 https://www.alfarohofmann.com/en/holdings/s?filtered=1&fabri...
throw0101d 2y ago
If anyone is curious about (industrial) design, it is worth checking out the documentary Objectified by Gary Hustwit (and the rest of the 'trilogy'): * https://www.hustwit.com/objectified https://www.hustwit.com/objectified * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectified https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectified * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_Trilogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_Trilogy Trailer: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dKJZfjHJJs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dKJZfjHJJs
itronitron 2y ago
It would be interesting if there was one major city that invested enough funds to organize thrift stores around particular design aesthetics or historic periods. So you could have a `50's thrift store, a `60's one, etc. Alternatively they could be organized around classes of goods such as clothing, household appliances, tools, etc. There is a lot of stuff out there but not enough incentive to bring it all together, refurbish, and reuse.
- keiferski 2y ago
  There a few places like this in Europe. In Berlin, for example, there are some DDR-era design stores.
zemvpferreira 2y ago
I started my career at Braun and have a huge soft spot for them. Hope to visit Kronberg again some day, maybe the fair would be a good excuse. Thank you highlighting it, was very enjoyable to read and go back memory lane.
elisbce 2y ago
Braun is the only shaver brand that I can confidently get a smooth clean shave without getting rashes or pulled beard. Esp. their series 9 which cuts even curly beard perfectly. This says a lot about their engineering design superiority.
- resolutebat 2y ago
  Here in Australia, the "Series 9 Pro 9467cc" apparently costs $449. That's a pretty steep ask when a perfectly passable Remington goes for $23.
denvaar 2y ago
Wow I wish that I had one of those coffee makers.
- farslan 2y ago
  It's the Braun KF 20 and if you search around you can find on Ebay in good condition: https://onlyonceshop.com/product/braun-kf-20 https://onlyonceshop.com/product/braun-kf-20
jnaina 2y ago
Family had a Braun Mixer type 4142 when I was growing up and I used to marvel at the design. Clean lines, subtle curves, the stark simplicity of the dial. Had no idea who Dieter Rams was and his design legacy at Braun. Bought a Braun Aetlier 1 Stereo as a collectors item much later in life, to pay homage to Rams. A thing of beauty that now is a centerpiece, sitting next to the NeXT Cube.
- farslan 2y ago
  How do you like the Atelier 1?
  - jnaina 2y ago
    Unfortunately it does not work. Simply exists for it’s form, not its function. yes, it is beautiful
sinuhe69 2y ago
I have had a Braun toaster, staff mixer for almost 20 years and they still work flawlessly. Beautiful machines! The Braun toothbrush is also very reliable. All the Sonicare I had gave up after 1-2 years :( so I stopped buying them. But the Brauns are still going strong, albeit not so fancy as their competitors.
benterix 2y ago
This is about the old Braun. The new one is the usual Chinese garbage. Not that different from Philips or Bosch though, this stuff just breaks so much faster than what I was used to two decades or more ago.
- eps 2y ago
  Came here to say the same - think twice before buying. I got enamoured by their wrist watch reissues, got one for myself and another model for my wife. In one watch hands weren't aligned to tick marks and another had hands simply detached themselves from the axes and now hang limply pointing at 6. I guess it could qualify as an art project of some sort, uber-minimalizm in both design and function, but that's not really what I bought it for.
- moosemess 2y ago
  Companies selling stuff that lasts do not themselves last. Same reason there is no "ethical" consumption anymore.
cafard 2y ago
We have Braun alarm clocks. I liked the previous generation better, but one of those did not survive a fall to the floor, and I don't know what happened to the other.

242 points by farslan 2y ago

Braun has an incredible design legacy. I had no idea there's an annual collectors fair. Add that to my bucket list.

Hi Fatih, I just wanted to let you know that I am a very avid reader of your email newsletter. I really get happy every time an email with one of your new articles arrives at my inbox. Thanks to your reviews of keyboards I will hopefully soon be able to get one of them myself. In summary, I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to write the articles. It's definitely more time consuming than tweeting (I don't have a twitter account at all, I dislike the atmosphere there and I also prefer to consume longer texts with more content), so I just wanted to let you know that there's a bunch of people out here reading your texts and enjoying them!

farslan 2y ago
Hi there. Thanks a lot for the kind words. One of the reasons I started to spend more time on my blog is because of the reasons you listed. I know X/Twitter has still its place, but I've discovered that people like to read long-form with nice pictures.
- imp0cat 2y ago
  Subscribed! I am more of a Bosch fan though. Braun appliances are a bit "too much retro" for me. ;)

maxglute 2y ago

Apart from watches, Braun design language last couple decades have felt pretty uninspired.

farslan 2y ago
I agree. However since 2009 the Head of Design has been Oliver Grabes, and I love where is he heading. He started to think more about legacy Braun design and started incorporating old design elements in their never elements.
- zemvpferreira 2y ago
  Personally I don't think you can capture lightning in a bottle twice. Dieter's principles were absorbed into the culture, which is really as good as it gets. Resulting of course in Apple, the current apex of industrial design. Important product categories are different, households are different, mass manufacturing processes are completely different. Braun pushed the envelope so much. Designing products now using the language of the 20th century seems...to miss the point at the least. Nothing against Oliver's work, but for Braun to be a true design powerhouse again would take a clean slate, and I don't see how that can be done.

jrmg 2y ago

I’d love to read an account of the ‘fall’ of Braun. Through my adult life, basically the only thing it makes that are still ubiquitous are electric shavers - which are great shavers, but hardly icons of design. Was there internal drama that led to this contraction in the diversity of what they made? Did it happen fast or slow? I feel like there must be a good story in there.

farslan 2y ago
If you're interested Dieter Rams itself goes into it a little bit in the "Rams" documentary. But it all happened after Gillette acquired Braun in the 1970's.
moritz 2y ago
Sold to Gilette in 1967, expansion into many different areas after. Then, I guess their story is not really unique, they shared the fate of all European household appliance manufacturers — increasing competition from Asian companies, so by the 1990s, Braun was dead. After Procter & Gamble bought them in 2005, it now mostly exists as a brand to be licensed (everything other than shaving and electric toothbrushes).
- Reason077 2y ago
  And now days the toothbrushes use the "Oral-B" brand, so Braun is only really known (in international markets) for shavers.
  - shiroiushi 2y ago
    No, the electric toothbrushes are called Braun in markets outside the US. I've only seen them labeled Oral-B in the US. Also, they're pretty lousy toothbrushes IMO. I recommend Panasonic ones instead.
    - eru 2y ago
      > No, the electric toothbrushes are called Braun in markets outside the US. In some markets, maybe. In some other markets outside the US, they also use the Oral-B brand.

seabass-labrax 2y ago

The Design Museum in Brussels[1] also has a sizeable collection of Dieter Rams and other Braun items. The theme of the permanent exhibition is polymers, so there's everything from little electronic devices to whole modular plastic storage units on display. I'd highly recommend it! [1]: https://designmuseum.brussels https://designmuseum.brussels

bch 2y ago
> The Design Museum in Brussels also has a sizeable collection of Dieter Rams and other Braun items. Museum Angewandte Kunst (Museum for Applied Art)[0] in Frankfurt, too. [0] https://www.museumangewandtekunst.de/de/besuch/ausstellungen/dauerausstellungen/dieter-rams-ein-stilraum/ https://www.museumangewandtekunst.de/de/besuch/ausstellungen... Edit: And in English - https://www.museumangewandtekunst.de/en/visit/exhibitions/permanent-presentation/dieter-rams-a-style-room/ https://www.museumangewandtekunst.de/en/visit/exhibitions/pe...

willcipriano 2y ago

That's peak design for me.

Xenoamorphous 2y ago

I’m 44 and to this day I still use my very fist Braun electric shaver. I don’t even know the model, but it looks just like one with a blue button in the pic in the article, although the case is different and the blue is darker in mine. The only issue it has is that I have to place the connector in a very specific position or it won’t charge. I think it’s going to outlive me.

tcbawo 2y ago
I had a Braun shaver for a very long time — long after the battery had died. It worked great while plugged into the wall, which was fine because I kept it in the bathroom next to an outlet. I switched to a new shaver after receiving one as a gift. I had no idea that modern shavers (maybe most electronics these days?) only run from the battery, rather than passing through from the wall. It’s a reminder of a time before forced obsolescence that I miss.
- imp0cat 2y ago
  OTOH, not being connected to the mains is probably a lot safer, especially if you use it in the bathroom.
  - tcbawo 2y ago
    Possibly. Although with GFCI sockets, I was not as concerned.

stadt 2y ago

If you love "everyday objects from the 20th century, especially electrical appliances" and are in Valencia, Spain, then checkout the Alfaro Hofmann Collection which has some lovely Braun pieces shown in the context of many other designs: https://www.alfarohofmann.com/en/holdings/s?filtered=1&fabricante%5B18%5D=b62dd147-e998-4192-bcd3-62e93069b161&fabricante%5B19%5D=00e60ffe-8c64-4b94-bcd4-ff0c97e60ad1 https://www.alfarohofmann.com/en/holdings/s?filtered=1&fabri...

throw0101d 2y ago

If anyone is curious about (industrial) design, it is worth checking out the documentary Objectified by Gary Hustwit (and the rest of the 'trilogy'): * https://www.hustwit.com/objectified https://www.hustwit.com/objectified * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectified https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectified * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_Trilogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_Trilogy Trailer: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dKJZfjHJJs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dKJZfjHJJs

itronitron 2y ago

It would be interesting if there was one major city that invested enough funds to organize thrift stores around particular design aesthetics or historic periods. So you could have a `50's thrift store, a `60's one, etc. Alternatively they could be organized around classes of goods such as clothing, household appliances, tools, etc. There is a lot of stuff out there but not enough incentive to bring it all together, refurbish, and reuse.

keiferski 2y ago
There a few places like this in Europe. In Berlin, for example, there are some DDR-era design stores.

zemvpferreira 2y ago

I started my career at Braun and have a huge soft spot for them. Hope to visit Kronberg again some day, maybe the fair would be a good excuse. Thank you highlighting it, was very enjoyable to read and go back memory lane.

elisbce 2y ago

Braun is the only shaver brand that I can confidently get a smooth clean shave without getting rashes or pulled beard. Esp. their series 9 which cuts even curly beard perfectly. This says a lot about their engineering design superiority.

resolutebat 2y ago
Here in Australia, the "Series 9 Pro 9467cc" apparently costs $449. That's a pretty steep ask when a perfectly passable Remington goes for $23.

denvaar 2y ago

Wow I wish that I had one of those coffee makers.

farslan 2y ago
It's the Braun KF 20 and if you search around you can find on Ebay in good condition: https://onlyonceshop.com/product/braun-kf-20 https://onlyonceshop.com/product/braun-kf-20

jnaina 2y ago

Family had a Braun Mixer type 4142 when I was growing up and I used to marvel at the design. Clean lines, subtle curves, the stark simplicity of the dial. Had no idea who Dieter Rams was and his design legacy at Braun. Bought a Braun Aetlier 1 Stereo as a collectors item much later in life, to pay homage to Rams. A thing of beauty that now is a centerpiece, sitting next to the NeXT Cube.

farslan 2y ago
How do you like the Atelier 1?
- jnaina 2y ago
  Unfortunately it does not work. Simply exists for it’s form, not its function. yes, it is beautiful

sinuhe69 2y ago

I have had a Braun toaster, staff mixer for almost 20 years and they still work flawlessly. Beautiful machines! The Braun toothbrush is also very reliable. All the Sonicare I had gave up after 1-2 years :( so I stopped buying them. But the Brauns are still going strong, albeit not so fancy as their competitors.

benterix 2y ago

This is about the old Braun. The new one is the usual Chinese garbage. Not that different from Philips or Bosch though, this stuff just breaks so much faster than what I was used to two decades or more ago.

eps 2y ago
Came here to say the same - think twice before buying. I got enamoured by their wrist watch reissues, got one for myself and another model for my wife. In one watch hands weren't aligned to tick marks and another had hands simply detached themselves from the axes and now hang limply pointing at 6. I guess it could qualify as an art project of some sort, uber-minimalizm in both design and function, but that's not really what I bought it for.
moosemess 2y ago
Companies selling stuff that lasts do not themselves last. Same reason there is no "ethical" consumption anymore.

cafard 2y ago

We have Braun alarm clocks. I liked the previous generation better, but one of those did not survive a fall to the floor, and I don't know what happened to the other.