While some kitchen tools get better with age, others, like Pyrex glassware, are simply better old than they are new due to superior durability and now-discontinued shapes and colors. Mid-century Le Creuset pieces, too, are coveted among cookware collectors — especially those by Raymond Loewy. An iconic mid-century industrial designer, Loewy was responsible for the logos of Shell, Exxon and TWA, the Greyhound bus, Coca Cola vending machines, the Studebaker Avanti and the pre-fab Leisurama homes that pepper Montauk.
On a smaller scale, Loewy produced a collection of cookware for Le Creuset in 1958. While Le Creuset has reissued Loewy’s designs in recent years, original pieces can still be found online, and at prices competitive with, and sometimes better than, their newer counterparts. From Etsy seller LeCreusetHeritage comes a full set of Loewy bakeware — two oven dishes and one Coquelle (what Loewy called his cocotte dutch oven) — in very good condition. To be sure, the $505 price tag is steep, but the full bundle runs just $130 more than a single reissued Coquelle, and brings with it the cachet of being an authentic, vintage Loewy design.
