Dieter Rams 606 Universal Shelving Unit Owners  

Colours and compatibility
Hi Pete,
I'm sure all the components are interchangeable between the different manufacturers (I've never heard anyone say that this isn't the case); the only difference I've heard is that the Italian and German versions aren't as well made, and that the shelves aren't as sturdy (though, admittedly, it was Vitsoe UK that told me this, and as Mandy Rice-Davies once nearly said, "They would, wouldn't they". Despite this, I'm inclined to believe them. The De Padova version's shelves are made of aluminium rather than steel, for example).
As for colours, yes, the UK version's cabinets changed colour slightly c. 2000 to RAL 9002; their price list says as much. However, I'm *sure* that the white shelf colour changed slightly in the mid-90s too. My older shelves are certainly a slightly different colour to my newer ones, and I don't think this is just down to age. The older ones are a slightly warmer, creamier white, the new ones slightly colder and greyer. Not a huge difference though.

Vitsoe UK
Just to add a bit to this thread. I'm buying mine this month and can honestly say that the buying/service experience I have had with Vitsoe is outstanding. It's such a relief to find an organisation that really is service lead and understands how to treat it's customers. From their website through to planning my design instore (no pushy sales technique - they actually listen) they have been fantastic.
As for the shelves themselves, they look fantastic and you can really see and appreciate the build quality. I put quite a lot of weight on one of the shelves and it was really sturdy, apperently they've had customers actually stand on them, but at 16 stone I wasn't going to risk it!