Glow, in the dark
King George V of the United Kingdom used to say, purportedly, ‘always go to the bathroom when you have the chance.’ Sound advice. Especially if your bathroom is the stage for the sheeny-shiny Villeroy & Boch Crystals Editions bathtub, a collaboration with Swarovski.
A Villeroy & Boch Squaro Prestige bathtub, made from TitanCeram with precise angles, is wrapped around unusually in leather. Hong Kong designer Steve Leung then dictates the placement of over 6,000 crystals by hand across the exterior. The geometry of the crystals – in three sizes, 5mm, 10mm and 15mm – aren’t accidental. Instead, Leung references the ancient form of Chinese landscape painting called Shan Shui (Mountain, Water) . Traditionally, this manifests in artwork celebrating rivers, waterfalls and peaks. Here, it takes a more abstract form. There are hints of movement and cascades, at times so subtle to be imperceptible.
A similar approach is taken with the accompanying Octagon Pedestal washbasin. A misnomer, because it isn’t actually an octagon, the vertical tube has the same leather-crystal exterior finish, using a thousand crystals from Swarovski’s Xirius Rose line, topped with a basin made in the Edelweiss Matt finish. With freestanding pieces like this in your bathroom, wouldn’t you want everyone else to see it too?
