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. 

Marbles Match Safe

I love stumbling upon great little products, that have a great story, a great design and a great functionality. I found all three things, when I stumbled upon the Match Safe by Marbles (founded in 1887 in Michigan) some weeks ago. It sort of reminded me to keep searching for good products. They might not be readily available, but if you look for them, they can still be found and that was one of the things that initially made me start blogging.

This small canister is made to keep your matches dry, safe and ready for when you might need them (or just to keep them in a better looking container, that a regular matchbox). The MR150 as it's also named is made  of nickel plated brass to exact specifications of their original 1900 patent. However some suggest that the quality isn't on par with the original or rather vintage ones, but then again what is nowadays?