Alessi  

Mostly novelty-value only.
Mostly novelty-value only.

Started out...
Started out with good intentions, though. As I heard the story, an entrepreneur had the idea of connecting small manufacturers posessing metalworking, etc. skills with designers, to do well-crafted, innovative products. How the little plastic anthropomorphic dental floss dispensers came into it is anybody's guess. Philippe Starck's lemon squeezer, etc. is pretty irritating (to me, anyway), but some of the simple stainless steel stuff from the 1950s, 60s and 70s works.

I've heard alot of people...
I've heard alot of people say that about the juicy salif. I quite like it, so I'd be interested to know why? It's the little men under the jar lids that annoy me. It seems to me that Alessi have had some beautiful and sophisticated designs in the past but have given up on it in favour of a much more childish approach.

My issue with the Juicy...
My issue with the Juicy Salif is that it doesn't work very well - form over function.

Can't say fairer than that!...
Can't say fairer than that! I've never used it. Yes, I can see that would be annoying, especially at that price.

nice watches
nice watches

I loved the 80's
Sold all my Alessi 80's knick knacks on ebay.

fun to look at, but...
...not so much to own. I would rather buy Bodum things. I LOVE the Bodum store in Copenhagen! It's very narrow but tall and I take the elevator up to the top and then wander down through each level. Last time I was there, they were baking some delicious chocolate cookies and giving out samples.