Retro black brass shower system with 20 cm rain shower head

Cross-handle columns are often gold or chrome. This one is entirely black: tube, arm, shower head, hose and the two cross handles of the mixer. The contrast works on a light wall, as in the photo of a walk-in shower tiled in white.

You open the hot water on one side and the cold on the other, and set the mix by hand. It is a slower action than a single-lever mixer, but precise and pleasant.

The black rosettes at the base of the mixer hide the supply pipes. The sliding tube lets you adjust the column without cutting any pipe. In the photo taken next to a wooden bath, the black echoes the dark tones of the decor.

Unlike retro bell-shaped shower heads, this rain shower is a thin, flat 20 cm disc, set at the end of a 33 cm arm. Its face has raised nubs through which the water flows.

If a jet weakens because of limescale, rubbing the nubs with a finger is enough to clear them. The slim-handled handset sits on a sliding holder in the middle of the tube.

The sliding holder moves along the tube: everyone sets the handset at their own height. The black hose stays discreet against the wall, with no silver glint.

The dimensioned photo shows an adjustable height of 85 to 132 cm. Measure the space available between the mixer and the ceiling, especially under a sloping roof or above a bath.

The mixer screws onto two wall supplies, hot and cold. On existing supplies, a competent DIYer can manage; if they have to be created, call a plumber.

The package in the photo also includes a tee, connectors, seals, rosettes and an instruction sheet. Before first use, open both cross handles for a few seconds and check that no drop appears at the connections.