Any opinions on Arezzo taps/showers?

Jane

last year

It looks nice and the price is good but I can't see any reviews for this brand. Anyone have any experience?

Looks very much like Crosswater :-)

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Jonathan

last year

They get a thumbs up from me. I have them in my shower and they are super.

I also agree about stylish yet affordable

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Comments (12)

Jane
Original Author
last year
Good to hear.
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Thank you guys for your helpful advice and comments. Chloe yes I love wall mounted taps too, we are definitely getting wall mounted for bath but I don’t think we can for basin as it’s an external wall so unless a plumber can do something very clever we’d probably have to put some extra studwork in there which would reduce the width of the room which we can’t do unless we made the shower smaller than a 900x900 quadrant which we also don’t want to do! I love the crosswater brushed brass taps, but I can’t seem to find a tall basin mixer tap version of the range, and we need a tall mixer tap as we’d love a countertop basin. It’s so frustrating when the companies don’t do all the different types of tap for that range, some of them I find don’t do showerhead versions either so you can’t match it all up!
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perkvalvaag
last year
Hi Jane - I have pretty much the same question as you did. Have you had any experience with this brand since you first asked the question?
PRO
Caldicot Kitchen & Bathroom Centre
last year
If I understand correctly, Arezzo is Victorian Plumbing's "own brand", and as such I would urge approaching with a fair amount of caution. While Jane says "looks very much like Crosswater", I would say that from my professional experience, looks can be extremely deceptive!

At the moment, the UK and wider market is awash with cheap "knock off" products from the Far East and elsewhere, often copying the styles of established brands like Crosswater, Grohe, Hansgrohe and the like. They may look the same on a webpage, but put the products side by side and physically feel & inspect them, and very soon you will see the difference.

While I have no personal experience of this particular brand (we concentrate on using established British & European brands whose quality control and long term support we trust), I have more than enough experience of being asked to replace similar items which frequently are made of inferior materials and whose "working parts" often fail within 1-3 years.

You also need to be careful on such fittings to ensure that the "pressure rating" is appropriate for your particular installation - there is no point trying to fit a High Pressure shower to a system that cannot cope.

While I understand the attraction of finding a bargain by shopping online or at the bathroom "sheds", please understand there is often a reason why these products are so much cheaper than their established brand equivalents. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is...

Here is a link to some discussion on the brand at the Plumbers Forum. I would contend their views may be more enlightening than the carefully curated reviews on Victorian Plumbing's own website!

Caldicot Kitchens
Jane
Original Author
last year
I have installed but not completed second fix yet. Plumber didn't complain. I figured black would be out of fashion soon so would need to replace in next few years anyway. I have used better quality chrome fittings in main bathroom.
perkvalvaag
last year
Thank you both for these responses.

I'm very suspicious of the 'own brand' situation; I looked into it too. What can go wrong with a solid brass construction though? It does seem pretty obscene to pay another grand for the crosswater version.

Jane, are you saying you installed it but haven't started using it?
PRO
Caldicot Kitchen & Bathroom Centre
last year
Not all brass is the same! Quality of the brass, the way it is cast/machined etc - all can have an effect on longevity - particularly the difference between "virgin" brass and recycled. Ditto with ceramic valves etc. For products (especially those coming out of the Far East), quality control can also be variable.

To give an example - a better known British brand started importing a very reasonably priced tap from the far east. It was aesthetically pleasing, hit a good price point and as it was from that brand, we felt the back up support at least would be good. It was a useful "fall back" tap when people's budgets didn't quite stretch, or for utilities. We supplied & fitted quite a few. Those from the first couple of years' batches were fine. Then unbeknownst to the company, the producing factory changed, and we had at least a year's worth of taps all failing within about 18-24 months.

While the brand stood by their warrantees to provide new valves, we (or our customers) have still had to fork out for the labour to replace them - exacerbated by the fact that the levers on the dodgy batches were almost impossible to remove.

Needless to say, it is not an item in our portfolio any more, and we are more careful of any items coming in from certain territories.

As I said, take care!
perkvalvaag
last year
last modified: last year
Thank you, I really appreciate these insights, very valuable!

What does it mean take care though? Either I buy the Arezzo for less than £400 ir it's the Crosswater for £1600 – more than 4 times the price.

I'm thinking about ordering the Arezzo and returning if it's not up to scratch; if so do you think it's possible to assess the quality of it? Would my plumber know what to look for?
PRO
Caldicot Kitchen & Bathroom Centre
last year
Well, that decision is very much your call! To reply to your questions:

Is it possible to assess the quality? If you have the two side by side and know what you are looking for, you will get a flavour. But as I have said, because so much hinges on the quality of the brass, the manufacturing & machining process etc, and because any problems are likely only to come to light a couple of years down the line, that is where the challenge arises.

So if things do go wrong, who will help you put them right?

Another question to ask yourself: who do you trust more to tell the honest truth about what you are buying: a call-centre operative on sales commission looking to make a quick sale to someone they’ll never speak to again, or a local independent studio owner who knows he’ll be on the hook to fix it if it goes wrong, and whose reputation hinges on selling quality that lasts?

Also consider the product you highlighted in the image: a concealed valve shower. All the core mechanical parts of that product are about to be embedded behind no doubt beautiful tiles or expensive shower boards, out of sight. If problems do occur, you may not realise it for some time. Putting it right is not necessarily as straightforward as replacing a tap washer! Is spending a little more now on quality a good investment, given the cost of putting right a leaking installation?

Of course, you are not facing a “binary” decision. You could seek out some other quality brands who may have similar products at slightly keener prices. One we use is Flova, and while they are manufactured in China, the overall process & quality control is good in a single purpose built factory, and the back up support in the UK has been excellent.

Or consider a different specification shower from Crosswater: exposed valve, but in the beautiful brushed brass finish like this:

https://www.crosswater.co.uk/product/design-exposed-thermostatic-shower-valve-with-dial-fixed-head-and-pencil-shower-kit?variant=25753

At the end of the day, it is your money, and you have to spend it according to your budget & priorities.

Personally, there are a few items in bathrooms I encourage customers not to skimp on: shower trays; showers & taps and the WC pan & cistern. These are the core functional items in a bathroom. If anything goes wrong, they can cause larger problems, and/or are awkward/expensive to fix. So worth going for trusted, quality brands on these. Make savings on secondary items - basins, tiles, worktops, furniture - if you wish to squeeze. They are less critical.

But that is just me!
perkvalvaag
last year
Thanks again for responding. I am actually after an exposed - not concealed - valve which means it can be changed as it has the standard 150mm gap between the outlet pipes.

This is the expensive version:

https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/crosswater-mpro-industrial-multifunction-shower-valve-unlacquered-brushed-brass

An this is the cheap one:

https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/arezzo-brushed-brass-dual-exposed-valve-with-rigid-riser-kit-195-mm-shower-head-handshower-diverter?campaign=googlebase&gclid=Cj0KCQiAorKfBhC0ARIsAHDzslviNym_pgm0KCLbZh1yToX7sc0Y4fpKv2EH0e5iJSNHfM09haZ8c5UaAh2EEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

The Crosswater product you linked to looks good, but I'm looking for an industrial look (as opposed to modern or traditional) and it's pretty impossible to find alternatives.

Anyway, all input here (on what not to to save money on) is very much appreciated - thank you!

Best,

Per
PRO
Caldicot Kitchen & Bathroom Centre
last year
Hi Per,

Thank you for the links, and for the extra info on the styles you seek. I certainly support your preference for exposed - I’d always recommend it, unless there is easy access from behind the wall in question.

You choices are certainly a bit more limited if the industrial style is your preference - are there any particular bits of an industrial aesthetic that are important to you? Sometimes it is possible to achieve the look in a “mix’n’match” way from components within a brand that might help keep costs a little lower, though I couldn’t see any obvious options with the Crosswater.

Alternatively, seeking a discount from a registered dealer may pay dividends - we certainly would always consider such discounts for “supply only”.

Last point to flag to you: looking at the 2 products in question, the Arezzo only offers a 3 year warranty with only 1 year on valves etc.

The Crosswater, by comparison, offers a 15 year warranty with 5 on valves, o rings etc: extract screenshot below.

Given that the anticipated life of the Crosswater is 5 times that of the Arezzo, then the cost difference (once fitting is added) is somewhat closer when whole life costs are considered.

So if you are looking to move on from the house soon, I’d take a punt on the Arezzo. If it were my own property that I intended to stay in for some time, I’d be going with Crosswater or Perrin & Rowe or another quality brand.

Will be interested to hear what you eventually choose!

Caldicot Kitchens
Leonie
last year
Can’t help with the decision but the same Crosswater one you liked is for sale on other websites for £1512, also worth checking eBay.

Obviously more expensive than the cheaper brands, but do shop around once you’ve decided what you want.

Any opinions on Arezzo taps/showers?

Jonathan

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Jane
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Any opinions on Arezzo taps/showers?

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