I have a set of kitchen scales that languishes almost permanently in the furthest, darkest corner of a cupboard. It's a simple, functional design, inoffensive to the eye, and does exactly what it is meant to. But, since I don't do baking (which requires great precision), I have very little need of them. Don't get me wrong, I love cooking but I do it according to "that looks about right", followed by "that tastes right" (or not, in which case I add another "about right" dash of whatever is missing).
But a recent stroll through Boutique 1 Living has changed my mind about this functional and rather unglamorous bit of kitchen kit. Full Scale, as this beauty is called, is another superbly designed product from Eva Solo, the Danish company that turns out one superbly designed product after another, thanks to its collaboration with the industrial designers Henrik Holbaek and Claus Jensen of the design studio, Tools.
The simplicity of this piece is stunning: a metal container for whatever you are weighing (which is marked internally for measuring liquids, too), a spring (the real "working part" if you will) and a calibrated container to hold the spring - in glass, so you can see how elegant the spring is. It's clever, too: if you're measuring more than one ingredient you can weight the first, turn the graduation arc back to zero, then weigh the second without having had to empty the container.
All of that and it looks gorgeous. Since I am in the process of getting a new kitchen (sorry, landlord, your ugly brown one was just too depressing to cook in) Full Scale is impossible to resist. And it will not, ever, live in a cupboard. Dh432 from Boutique 1 Living, The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai; 04 448 3400; www.boutique1.com
