Design story: the enamel finish on the RADOCO retro line

Retro-styled appliances have a reputation for looking the part and feeling cheap. RADOCO's retro line was designed to avoid exactly that, starting with the surface you touch every morning.

The kettle, toaster, blender base and espresso machine share the same shell: pressed steel with a glossy enamel coating, finished with chrome-plated trim. Enamel is glass fused to metal at high temperature. It does not yellow in sunlight, does not scratch under a ring, and wipes clean without chemicals — which is why it has been used on cookers for a century.

"We could have painted plastic and matched the colour perfectly on day one," the design team says. "Enamel matches on day one and on day three thousand. Cream stays cream."

The steel shell also does practical work. On the kettle it keeps the outside cooler to the touch than thin plastic; on the toaster it spreads heat so the slots brown evenly. The extra weight — the toaster is 1.5 kg — is deliberate: the appliances stay where you put them.

Two finishes are offered, glossy black and cream, across the whole line. For advice on choosing between them, read how to style a cream or black retro set.