There’s a best version of everything

Most things are fine. A few are exceptional: better designed, better made and better to live with than they need to be. Finding them takes time most people don’t have, and the internet mostly makes it harder.

Paragonal Studio does the looking. Each week we take one object a man will own at some point, from lamps and loafers to notebooks and pans, and decide whether it earns its place.

One verdict a week. Free.

What Paragonal Means

“Paragonal” is our word to describe the thing that sets the standard in its category: the one everything else gets measured against. Most things never get there; we share the ones that do.

How the verdicts work

Worth it. Form and function you won’t regret.
Skip it. Overpriced, overhyped or quietly outclassed.
Choose this instead. A better answer exists. Often it costs less.
Paragonal. The benchmark. Awarded rarely, so it means something.

What we judge

Everything that makes an object worth owning: the design, the materials, the finish, how it performs and how it ages. Then the price, and how much of it pays for the name. Expensive doesn’t mean good. Popular doesn’t mean right. Sometimes the best version is the one nobody’s talking about.

Who pays for this

No one pays for a verdict. Some links earn a small commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. They never decide what gets recommended. Anything sponsored is clearly labelled.

Who’s behind it

Paragonal Studio is based in London. We’re the kind of people who check a cutlery set’s dishwasher rating before it comes home. You won’t find a polyester blend in our knitwear drawer. Paragonal started because we were doing this research anyway, and the answers were scattered across design archives, forums, reviews and other people’s flats. Now they’re in one place.

Reply to any issue and tell us what you’re looking for. The best questions become verdicts.