The €50 blender problem – #104

This week starts with a broken blender.

Not mine, unfortunately. That would have made the story more cinematic.

The founders of Open Funk once took a broken blender to a repair shop and were quoted €50 just to have someone look at it.

Annoying. But also useful, because it led them to build re:Mix: a blender made in Berlin, designed to be opened, repaired, upgraded and not thrown away the moment one small part gives up.

I like that.

And maybe this is one of the more underrated things about European product culture. At its best, it still has a soft spot for objects that stay around. Things with screws. Things made by people who assume the owner is not an idiot.

Europe even tries to force this idea onto big tech sometimes.

Mixed results, obviously. But I like the instinct: make things that can be opened, fixed, understood and kept.

Which does not mean Europe always gets this right.

Europe is also perfectly capable of producing objects that die after 19 months and then look at you like: “good luck, peasant.”

Anyway, this week’s five products: a repairable blender, a handmade Croatian mirror, an open-source pollution sensor, a glowing mineral lamp and a French suitcase that turns into a mobile desk.

If you’re new around here: Every week, I share 5 of the nicest products from Europe I’ve discovered in the past 7 days.

I scout, you explore.

With love 🌞
Jakob

P.S.: Missed the last edition? The caféracer bike from Achielle Belgium was the most-clicked design.

Fabijan, aka Glassy Fabio, makes handmade stained glass mirrors in Croatia. His mirrors have colourful glasswork and look calm, sculptural and very much not from the algorithm. No website found, just Instagram and DMs (but 005 is still available).

Designed by Fab Lab Barcelona, a workshop and research lab for digital design, the Smart Citizen Kit is an open-source sensor for measuring air quality, noise, temperature and humidity. Mount it somewhere, connect it, and your local data joins a public platform with readings from other kits around the world. A small civic tool for people who prefer knowing things themselves.

Open Funk was founded by Ken Rostand and Paul Anca after a repair shop quoted them €50 just to look at a broken blender. re:Mix is their repairable kitchen blender, handcrafted in Berlin, made for normal glass jars and built with a 100% recycled plastic casing.

Designed by French architect Sophie Dries, KAIA’s Torch Table Portable is made from a solid block of gypsum selenite, so the mineral itself gives off the glow. Headquartered in London, handmade in Germany, with a burned steel column, rechargeable battery and 6–8 week lead time.

Founded by Thomas Chaperot, Pascal Nuzzo and Lenny Kessler, Chapoget makes a cabin trunk from French-grown linen composite: lightweight, shock-resistant, recyclable and repairable. It turns into a mobile desk or wardrobe, and is currently on pre-order for summer 2026 delivery.