
We'd never appreciated fine bathroom hardware before we had the opportunity of using our Meta faucet countless times a day. This baby is totally worth the splurge (@ $400), but not if you have five bathrooms in your house...

Made of heavy duty, high polish chrome with cartridge and ceramic disc interior, the single handle effortlessly controls water flow and moves like butter.
Designed by Seiger Design, who are responsible for other beautiful designs, such as the Tara faucet and lovely tubs like this, the Meta also comes in a Meta Tech and a Meta Plasma styling which integrates psychodelic colors.

PURCHASE LINKS:
(ReEdited from 2007-03-05 - MGR)
Comments (19)
i'm not in the $400 for a faucet club. it's just not my priority.
however, i am in the process of sourcing a redo of my kitchen and i quite like the look of this IKEA faucet: Bagvik faucet
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40054425. it's super cheap @ $89. does anyone have experience with it?
sorry here's a better link for the IKEA faucet. i'd love to hear if anyone has it. will it last???
http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/IkeamsSearch?storeId=12&langId=-1&catalogId=11001&searchType=product&pageNumber=-1&orderBy=score&category=%23%7EProducts&query=Bagvik
I have a Dornbracht Tara classic faucet in my main bathroom (it's a kitchen faucet that I use as a bathroom faucet). The quality, finish and feel of this thing is well worth the extra cost.
I put a Home Depot faucet similar to the Graff in my parent's basement reno... it is competent and I can't fault it in any way, but it doesn't compare to the quality/ feel and finish of the Dornbracht, especially in the finish of the edges, the plating of the metal, and the smoothness of the valve control.
It's like a Sears suit versus an Armani suit, they look similar but the differences are pretty obvious.
BB, I'm curious to hear more about Ikea faucets as well. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that they can be leaky. It was probably a comment on AT!
We've already decided to go with higher quality hardware for the bath remodel, but we're still considering an Ikea faucet for the laundry area in the garage.
The Dornbracht is gorgeous in person.
I like the Hansgrohe Talis for a more angular look... And it feels like a good compromise between quality and price at about $160.
http://www.faucet.com/decor/product.pl?mid=86433&fh=Chrome&P&CID=FRO&CAWELAID=67559283
I'm sure someone with 5 bathrooms could afford $400 faucets.
Someone was wondering what to do if something goes wrong with a faucet. The great thing is that just like cars there are thousands of different parts available to fix them.
Regarding wall faucets--They aren't as complicated as they seem. The faucet itself must be supported within the wall, either by a brace or by the rigid copper cold and water pipes.
The water shut-off valves may still be exposed or, what seems to be very common with wall-mounted faucets are walls that have been built out four inches to make the installation simple and clean.
Even my wall-mounted kitchen faucet is a rather simple affair. http://www.flickr.com/photos/art_chel/499584413/in/set-72157600128826994/
It is braced to the wall and has a flexible line that goes to hot and a flexible line that goes to cold. As for the faucet itself that's a bit of engineering genius.
BB & wig3000:
I have the IKEA Bagvik faucet in my office. I'd say for the money it was a good buy. The gooseneck seems a bit loose, as in it wiggles around a little bit, though not bad. But no problems with leaks and it's held up well, going on 3 years now. The only oddity is that the lever rotates differently from most faucets, up for cold and down for hot. All in all, though, a good buy.
BB: I have one of those that we can't use for our kitchen renovation.
The faucet is new and not been used and you can have it if you wish (just cover shipping from Chicago). We prefer to have the one with the sprayer and can't use this one.
Where are you located?
art, I really like the Bulthaup faucet/ knife rack/ plant holder. Very clean and functional design. Nice kitchen island too!
too expensive for me
Thanks lightspeed.
Witchdoc - It's a Lefroy Brooks line...they're the manufacturer, not the distributor (it's misleading how the caption says the "store" is LB). Their website is super lame in comparison to their very high quality products, but if you can manage to navigate it, it will probably tell you how to contact a distributor in your area.
The Danze Parma line is also similar and inexpensive. I wouldn't buy the kitchen faucet again, but the bathroom fixtures all work perfectly fine. They don't move as smoothly as Dornbracht, but on my budget, that's ok.
It actually reminds me most of IKEA's ENSEN faucet, which is $49. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90062395
I have two Ensens (going on a year ). THey look awesome, work well, easy to install, etc. Main difference is that it is matte, which I prefer. But for the $$$ it's a good alternative.
Morgante - that is extremely kind and generous of you to offer. I'm in NYC; I'm at the very beginning stages and still getting bids from contractors -- they take forever -- so I'm not ready to commit. I'm still hunting around. But when I get there and I make my decision, how about if I contact you then and if it's still available we can work it out. Thank you again.
P.S. any recommendations for a reasonably priced contractor for a very small galley kitchen?
Ikea faucets do not work as well. The insides and attachments are made of plastic. Mine broke easily. Also the pluggy thing doesn't work, nor does that lever you pull up and down to plug the sink. It was $89 but is a total piece.
I will never buy an Ikea faucet - more trouble than it's worth.
The sinks and cabinets, however, work just fine.
BB, we're in Chicago, so all the resources we know about are here. It took us years to save up enough for this project and months to get all the bids and availability for everyone, so i know the road ahead of you has many turns.
When you get closer, let me know if you're still interested and it's yours.
I found a great new place to find really cool european faucets and the prices are pretty good. www.onestopmodern.com
I see many feel the same way I do. I have had the ikea facet now for about 5 years. No problems with it but it doesn't get a ton of use. The next time I needed a facet I thought I'd spend a little more and bought this one at Canadian Tire, http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/8/KitchenBath/Plumbing/SinkBasinFaucets/PRDOVR~0630305P/Danze%252BModa%252BSingle%252BHandle%252BLavatory%252BFaucet%25252C%252B4-in.jsp
It's on sale for only $77 now! I paid the $130 price. I understand not cheaping out on something that gets a lot of use and it permanent (somewhat) but this one isn't any more stylin for the money. I'm sure it's good quality but is it a "find"? I can "find" lots of cool stuff with lots of money too.