Ultima 15 Ashtray

Some days ago I was reading an article about the venerable English company Alfred Dunhill, and someone noted in the commentary that he couldn't understand, why a company like that would ever sell pipes and other smoking accessories in our modern times. Apparently the guy was totally unaware of the fact that pipes and the likes are an integral part of Alfred Dunhills history. 

It made me think about times when smoking was the norm and really cool smoking paraphernalia like lighters from Dupont, Dunhill, Ronson or Zippo were still something every dapper man would carry around.

The Ultima 15 ashtray is a beautiful design classic of the 70s, and was designed by the Swedish design duo Holger Bäckström and Bo Ljungberg. Obviously these were made in a time when there was a demand for ashtrays, but today with a declining demand for ashtrays I think the Ultima 15 ashtray can be appreciated by smokers and non-smokers alike. 

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Koss Porta Pro

There are a lot of terrible headphones, which are often, but not always, dirt cheap, there are some seriously good headphones which are always madly expensive. But then we have the Koss Porta Pro headphones, which are awesome and very inexpensive. Value for money at its finest. The design is functional with a lot of smart features and the sound is great. What's not to like?

I've had mine for years and they've served me tremendously well and I figured that most people knew about them. But lately I've realized that not all people know about them, although they probably should. Maybe that is why I've experience other Koss Porta Pro owners giving me the insider's smirky smile, when I've worn mine while walking around town.

The Koss Porta Pro has been around since the early 80s and they've remained relatively unchanged since then, but I guess it comes down to the old proverb "If it ain't broken..." This means that they could easily described as a design icon of some sorts.

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