Ostentatious Italians

[AstroApprentice (Jason)]

Recently I've read a few negative comments about iOptron's new red-legged tripod (I agree it looks a bit tacky). It's made me think about ostentatious mounts & accessories in general - a high proportion of which seem to come from our Italian astro friends.
Personally I like Avalon's red mounts and Primaluce Lab's red accessories, but here's a couple of Italian examples that are bound to raise eyebrows:
Avalon's limited edition blue mount & T-pod:
http://www.unitronitalia.com/prodott...p?ID=AVMZEHQWF
LB Astro's 'Team USA' scope rings:
https://lbastro.it/en/shop/rings/rin...v=6cc98ba2045f
And who doesn't want one of these Agnetti knobs on their counter weight?
http://www.3ashop.it/articolo.asp?ID=4451

[LewisM]

Oh goodness, a steampunk counterweight knob. How quaint.

I must say that the Italian definition of style is MUCH preferred over Skywatcher's new complete tackiness (almost as gad-awful as Celestron's "styling" which is grotesque at best!) - SW's vomitous green anodising is just the pits, let alone the craptacular "Black diamond" and Gold Series they have been pumping out for decades.

Anyway, in the end, people say what does it matter in the dark. There is a LOT of truth in that sentiment, but, thanks to the wonderous changes in weather phenomenon, we probably spend more time looking AT our telescopes than through them.

[Wavytone]

Agreed ... Synta really need to engage an industrial designer to improve the appearance of their gear - even just the choice of colours could be better.

Forget red bits... Unitron stuck to black and white or bare metal on wood, and it looked good. Then there’s Questar.