I love Dieter Rams’ designs

I have for decades mindlessly admired and used Braun shavers for their form and functionality,  but it was a 2007 Wallpaper article that sparked my interest in collecting Braun designs, especially those by Rams.  My first acquisition was the iconic T1000 radio, and then it has been calculators, lighters, ashtrays, hairdryers, shavers, watches … and I also collect monographs on Braun, Rams or by him, you name it.

I admire the objects because of their simple functional beauty. This is not an expensive hobby but quite as satisfying as my other collections. I hope to one day curate an exhibition of my Braun/Rams collection at a small museum but will meanwhile showcase it online to share it with all who love modern design.

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ABR11 Type 4846 radio-alarm

T-22 Radio

Just acquied (8.11 053e). This is fairly rare portable radio produced 1960-62, with this version for the US market (English markings).

Longwave, Shortwave and FM and runs on 1.5V x 6 drycell batteries. The specimen here is fully operational and in original condition:

11.2 x 8.1 x 3.7"

More technical information can be head from Radio Museum.

Technical manual (wiring diagram) can be purchased from here.

H-7 Heater Fan

The H-7 portable fan is reminiscent of the HLD-7 hair dryer on a slightly larger scale. Design by Reinhold Weiss.
This is an unusual one wired for the US market (in 110 volts).
Acquired 3/09 (E:75)

DN 30S / 4808 Digital Clock

Design: Dietrich Lubs. 1983. Acquired good used condition 3/09, in white (eb-80) from Austria.

RT-20 Radio

A 1961 design by Dieter Rams.

The Tri-band radio also comes with a white face, and is “a perfect example of how to establish functional and visual hierarchy via scale, spacing, and a strict grid system”

Acquired (2) in 2008 (from Germany, for $300 and $800 respectively).

T-1000 Radio

Introduced in 1962 at the Berlin Radio Fair, this has become an iconic Rams / Braun design and quite a collectors’ item, being part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The set is the single “real” shortwave receiver produced by Braun over quite a long time, it has been used quite often by members of the German diplomatic corps, which explains the “CD” in it’s designation. The T1000 CD was produced since about 1965.

Sketch for T1000 (alternative plans) dated May 29 1962.

 

I had the extraordinary good fortune to acquire an excellent condition T1000 CD AM FM LW shortwave radio from Joseph Harrell of Dallas in 2008 (1200) with ALL original documentation, schematics, receipt etc intact, imagine!  Original owner was the an Attache at the US Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria and he bought this radio from Ing. Karl Marzik in Frankfurt on Oct 11 1968. The tuner runs on 8 “D” cells while a ninth battery is for the lighted display.  One set of batteries lasts 6 months on a couple hours a day of listening.  My set didn’t come with an AC adaptor.

References:

Here are some use details on the T1000 from Dr. Boesch’s radiopages.

A collection of pictures of the T1000 CD on Flickr.

T1000 service manual (5.8 MB pdf in German) is available on this webpage.

The T1000CD page (with collector prices for members) from Radiomuseum of Switzerland with specs.

An interview of Dieter Rams on T1000 on Youtube

Braun Sixtant Razor

N.B. 1) Braun was acquired by Gillette, the shaving giant, in 1971, 2) Braun is now one of the top shaver names in the world, and 3) i have been admiring and using Braun shavers for 30+ years.

So this is special.

This is an earlier Braun razor design – and developed from Braun (Ronson) models (the DL3, DL5 by Rams/Müller, 1955 and 1957) of mid-1950s (Note: Braun had an agreement with Ronson in 1954 lasting twenty years allowing them to distribute Braun shavers in the Americas, U.K., and the British Commonwealth) and evolved from the S60 and SM3 shavers (both by Müller).

The SM31 sixtant above was designed 1962 by Gerd Alfred Müller, Hans Gugelot, Fritz Eihlr. Nr. 5310, the sistant is the same generation as Ronson Rechargeable RS75. Heavy cast alloy cutting head with brushed finish, foil cutting surface, injection moulded acrylic (?) body. On/off switch on side, circular switch on front activates side-trimmer. Presented in padded case with mirror insert inside lid with brush and straight flex.  Variants of this model included the S62 and parat BT SM 53 (Rams/Fischer 1968) and the rallye/sixtant color (1971, Florian Seiffert)

Acquired a 1971 Sixtant Color red one in Feb 2009 (eb:20) from Netherlands (Above).

HLD-4 Hair-dryer

This is a Dieter Rams design (1970) Nr. 4416

Not as beautiful as the HLD 2/20/21,23/231 by Reinhold Weiss in 1964 preceding or the HLD 5 by Weiss in 1972 to follow but the only hair-dryer by Rams.

Comes in Orange, Red and Blue.

Acquired a blue one in Feb 2009 (eb:20) from Italy.

KF-33 Coffee maker

Braun produces many different coffee machines, from one cup makers to commercial machines. They vary in size from 1 cup to 12 cup makers. The coffee making machines of Braun are accented with colors of white, yellow, black, blue, red, white and stainless steel.

The KF series of coffee makers starting with the KF-20, is quite a success for Braun.  The KF-40 (1984) by Kartwig Kahlcke set the design tone for an inexpensive, functional yet beautiful daily object.  Indeed the KF-40 model alone had a global market share of 10.1 percent-and no less than 11.5 percent in the US in 1991, some seven years after it was launched, and these coffeemakers have been the subject of many business school classes on design, development and marketing.

In any case, I acquired a new KF-33 (nr. 4085) in 2008 which is made in Germany and a 10-cup maker but haven’t made any coffee using it yet !

ABK 30 Wall clock

This is an earlier 1982 wall clock (Nr. 4861) by Dietrich Lubs

Quartz

This is one of the earliest wallclocks (Quartz) that Braun made. The dial follows the simple functional design of Lubs / Rams as in the AB 20 alarm clock of 1975.  The simple clear acrylic adjustment knob is conveniently located on the front of the clock face so one does not have to remove the clock from the wall to change the time.  It is powered by a single AA battery located in the back of the clock and its without a cover, again a functional element following Rams’ philosophy of Form follows Function.

The above picture is of ABW31 (NR.4839, 1981) whereas my ABK 30 (NR. 4861) below is in silver.

Acquired Oct 2008 (eb:75) from Germany.
The ABW-31 is no longer made but occassionally still available for retail sale, recently seen at the Design Museum in the UK for about £40 (while supplies last).

AW-22 Watch

All Braun watches are quartz.

Watches by Braun started with the DW20 (1977) by Rams / Lubs, which although clean in design, cannot be said to be beautiful.  The AB20 by Rams / Lubs set the basic design for subsequent clocks and watches from Braun, and the first quartz analog AW10 was by Lubs in 1989 (Nr.4789).

The AW-22 (Nr.3812) is a fairly recent model by Peter Hartwein, following in the tradition of Rams / Lubs.

Acquired (new and black, as in picture above) 10/08 [E-110] from Germany.

I have received many requests for folks interested in buying Braun watches.  Best is to try to contact Hans Peter-Brugger of timedesign-de to see if he has anything in stock.  These occassionally pop up on Ebay, but not often enough.  Good luck !

HL-1 Desk Fan

Reinhold Weiss (b.1934)
1961

Precedes HL-70 of 1971

Plastic and steel casing, 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 2 3/4″ (14 x 14 x 7 cm). Manufactured by Braun AG, Frankfurt, Germany

Part of the MOMA design collection

Comes in various colors.

Acquired (white, as in picture below) 10/08 [EB-100]