Italtile's Laufen MasterCraft Collection

Paying Homage to Laufen's Supreme Mastery of The Craft Of Sanware Design

Italtile’s LiveGreen ethos informs every decision in the quest to deliver the very best eco-chic value to our Italstylistas and our Commercial customers. We search for what we consider to be the Beautiful Living trifecta:

- Innovative, Inspirational Design

- Impeccable Craftsmanship

- Sustainability

Excellence is the standard against which every product is judged and the provenance and path to our showroom floors are rigorously interrogated. We have high expectations, but it’s not a lot to ask, given that you, our esteemed customer, are investing in high-end luxury designed to last.

Every now and then, our magnificent suppliers and partners truly astound us with product lines that not only tick every box on our scoresheets but also create a few more of their own! These are pieces of art that we believe are deserving of design awards and  places of honour as a permanent exhibitions in museumns of art. Swiss sanware specialists Laufen have consistently pushed beyond the borders of what we deem to be exceptional and, by doing so, elevate our own standards of quality, design and superiority and sustainably.

In homage to Laufen’s supreme mastery of their sanware craft, we have created the MasterCraft Collection brandspace in our showrooms, featuring a few carefully curated pieces of high-end, premium Laufen products. More an art gallery than a store-within-a store, it’s our stamp of approval. The creation of the MasterCraft Collection ringfences the best of the best Laufen products – collectors pieces – and places these items of inspirational luxury in a class of their own.

Unpacking MasterCraft.

Objects of extreme beauty and high functionality always begin with purity and simplicity. In this instance, with a unique formula of earth, fire and water, transformed under the eyes and hands of the Laufen artisans. They’re the same elements used by makers of porcelain since earliest times. But as the song goes: “It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it”. In the Laufen studios and workshops, it is precise alchemy.

A sculptor’s studio, not a factory.

High art is not possible without fine artistry. And with Laufen, that means collaborating with a selection of award-winning designers and architects, to develop working works of art. Once they’ve worked their sculptural magic, their designs manufactured by Laufen, and then curated by Italtile, especially for the Southern African Market. We select pieces that offer global design with local appeal.  

The promise of exclusivity that comes with bragging rights.

Laufen has an impressive stable of design collaborators. Alessi, The Italian design house that is now the benchmark brand for global design excellence (Who developed the Alessi One for Laufen). Ludovica and Roberto Palomba, the award-winning design and architecture duo, daringly adventurous innovators (the genius behind the Laufen Palomba range). Kartell, is the endlessly awarded design company renowned for understanding elegance (who we can thank for the Laufen Kartell range). French designer Toan Nguyen created Laufen’s INO Range. And Munich-based Konstantin Grcic, who conceptualized the architectural lines of the VAL Range.

Italtile selects a limited number of masterpieces from the MasterCraft Collection. So, if you find a biophilic (nature-inspired) design of a Laufen Palomba or Alessi One basin in one of our showrooms, you are fortunate indeed. You have invested in a statement piece. And that comes with eco-chic bragging rights. You don’t just have an exclusive, top quality basin, ro WC, or bidet. You have a beautiful story to tell.

Finished by hand. And by eye.

In an age of precision robotic engineering, it’s rather marvellous to witness the human touch working side by side with AI; skilled and practiced hands, guided by exacting eyes, extracting the magic from the substrates. At Laufen, human hands are precision tools, as trusted as the machines they work alongside.

Nothing less than perfection.

Every piece is given the hands-on treatment, checked, examined and verified before firing. Carefully deburred after moulding. All flaws smoothed out. The result is a hand finish that invites touch. Perfection of form and workmanship is a fundamental principle at Laufen. Long before final checks, random spot checks are undertaken during every production process. Even prototypes and pilot pieces get rigorous scrutiny. The slightest imperfection or hairline crack is considered breakage and the piece is collected for recycling.

Sustainability at every step.

Every element utilised in the Laufen production process is regarded as precious. Incorrectly cast pieces are returned to the processing cycle. Glazed and fired items that don’t meet the standard of excellence are ground down to ceramic powder which is added to the elements used to create new products. Chamber dryers are heated using waste heat from the kilns. Surplus water is collected, purified and reused. It’s the regenerative circle of Laufen life.

Right now, Italtile’s Laufen MasterCraft Collection includes rare pieces of Laufen Palomba, Laufen Alessi One, Laufen Kartell, Laufen Ino and Laufen Val, while stocks last.

We’ll be refreshing the Italtile Laufen MasterCraft Collection every time we have exclusive access to a signature Laufen range. It will take its place alongside our other exclusive, limited edition Laufen ‘gallery pieces’. And you, as a MasterCraft Collector, will be the first to know.

Live Beautifully. Live Green.

Live that Limited Edition Lifestyle with Laufen MasterCraft.

Ciao.