I believe that good design springs from a response to the context in which it is created — in other words, it reflects or reacts to the zeitgeist. Conversely, truly great design, and therefore in my opinion timeless design, responds exclusively to the need to solve a problem; whether that is to sit in comfort or to be able to pour tea without drips. And these creative provocateurs are quite different. But to really understand why some things become eternally venerated on the podium of timelessness, and many do not, it helps to consider the opposite fate — built-in obsolescence.

Regrettably, the idea that something could be designed deliberately to fail, seems acutely symptomatic of the fast pace of contemporary life. It is the very essence of a take-make-waste approach; the siren call of the constant upgrade exploiting a perceived need to do everything ever faster or differently in some way. It is a lure to shop based on the notion that what you have already is out-moded, and to stay on-top, if not to stay meaningful, you must immediately switch up to a new and improved latest edition. What tosh!

Of course, some might argue that if you have five years of use from a product, then surely that’s good enough. But we expect our buildings and homes to last a lot longer than half a decade, so why not everything else? Why is it seemingly ‘ok’ to buy anything ‘throwaway’?

Left: The highly collectable Alveston Tea Pot, designed over four years 1961-64.

In the early 1960s Robert Welch designed his first piece in cast iron, a candleholder he named Hobart. Cast iron was an important addition to Robert Welch's portfolio, complementing his designs in silver and steel. At first Hobart was produced in small numbers, the initial order was only two dozen, but after displaying them in his studio and home the designs popularity grew and led to a second order of one-hundred. Robert sold the designs himself out of a suitcase for a year, and initial buyers included Liberty and Heals.

Result? It’s highly likely to be an authentic long-player in the style stakes. Built-in obsolescence on the other hand is the product of a manufactured creative response to the conflicting pressures of the 21st Century; albeit arguably very of-the-moment in a time of constant flux. Nevertheless, in this way the design driver has gradually become less about service and more about status, for the designer as much as the consumer. Therein lying the answer to why little crafted today earns the accolade of timeless.

Sadly, this won’t change until the incentive to not sell more of something, but to instead extend a product’s longevity, and keep it in circulation for as long as possible, becomes the norm again. After all, we’ve done it before.

The motivation being not to create icons, but simply the desire to create something more elegant, affordable or useful than that which had come before. In this way, whether we look at Robert Welch’s Campden coffee set and toast rack, the walnut stools designed by the Eames’ for the Rockefeller Centre in New York or Sori Yanagi’s sinuous Butterfly stool to pick just a few of my favourite timeless designs, it is impossible to date them.

Ultimately then, such inherent longevity comes from honesty. Such pieces are not trying to seduce the consumer into buying something they do not need. They exist only to say, we do what we do exceptionally well, and we are considered in every detail; treasure us, and we will last a lifetime. Consequently, as we stand on the precipice of another New Era, let us hope that we may channel some of that Mid Century integrity and engender a new wave of timeless creativity. Only this time, it’ll be us and our planet that gets the chance to last another lifetime.

Left: Robert Welch’s sketches of ideas for products: Various designs for condiment sets, c.1960. His sculptural aesthetic can still be recognised in today’s designs.