Allow us to introduce our new range of enamelware colours - Riess for Labour and Wait.

Since we first started selling enamelware from Riess over ten years ago, we have found it to be one of our most popular and in-demand ranges. And as enamelware has experienced its rebirth as a practical and functional material so our range of Riess goods has expanded.  

This Pink Milk Pot featured in the Telegraph Magazine in 2002 and led to Sunday morning queues along Cheshire Street and an overload of our fledgling mail-order service. 

But as we saw other shops and online retailers selling the same range of milk pots, pans and jugs, we thought we should offer something fresh and new - we pride ourselves on staying one step ahead - so two years ago we created our own range of milk pots in black, green and airforce.

And now we can offer an extension of our Riess for Labour and Wait range. A milk pan, lasagne dish and two milk jugs in our custom ‘Labour and Wait’ colours.

We also introduce a Black Bread Bin to match our Brown Bread Bin - 

and each with our Riess for Labour and Wait backstamp - 

So who are Riess? And why do we like them so much? In a large part it is due to their history. Riess have been producing steel goods in the same location deep in the heart of Austria since 1550 - and high quality enamel items for over 80 years. This heritage ensures the best knowledge producing the best quality goods. It also helps to shape the company’s future, as they know that with such a proud past they must also look after the brand for future generations.

These beautiful illustrations are from Riess’s 400th anniversary celebrations in 1950 - although the factory floor looks much the same today.

Many of the products we sell here have been in constant production at Riess for over 60 years; this heritage and history ensures the highest quality, especially in comparison to the cheaper, far-eastern made enamel ranges that are appearing more frequently these days.

We have been visiting the Riess factory for many years now, to work on new products and colours, and also to see their fantastic archive, from where we have taken these pictures.

Here we see a selection of the enamel chips we’ve selected as possible colours, and a couple of our Labour and Wait items; the Airforce Milk Pot and the Bread Bin, as well as the new Grey Milk Jug.

Riess’s knowledge of steelworking also means their kitchenware is of the highest quality, although here our Professional Ladle is used in a more industrial manner.

Simon and Stuart from Labour and Wait and Andres Riess outside the door of the Riess factory.

Riess are also very proud of their environmental policy, aiming to make the smallest ecological impact possible. To this end, in the 1930s they built their own hydro-electric plant, which still to this day powers their entire factory.

So if you are lucky enough to buy or receive some Riess enamel, you can know that you are in possession of a product of quality and history, all the way from the 'Mile of Forges’ in the foothills of the alps.

For more on enamel, you can read our 3 part Enamelware Guide - Enamel Production, Enamel Qualities and Enamel Care.