Don't get me wrong, I'm not normally in the habit of spending more on a toaster than I need to. Over the past fourteen years since I left home, I have owned a total of six toasters before this one, and every single one was a budget version from one of the supermarkets. I have never had huge complaints with any of these, after all toast is toast, right?

Well.....toast is toast but I can tell you now that all toasters are not created equal. This two-slice offering from Dualit was my dream toaster for a couple of years (though the design has modified slightly) - one for the wedding list, as I didn't see myself justifying the purchase price. It was only in a fit of wild abandon, brought on by actually earning a bonus despite the recession, that I randomly decided to actually buy it - as a treat to myself for being old!

It's beautiful. Its chunky in design and feels substantial, yet is actually compact and takes up very little surface space. It's lovely and heavy, like a prestige car door! I feel a warm glow every time I look at it, let alone make toast with it, probably due to the "spendorphins" brought on by its cost! Its funny how owning just one or two really high quality items can make a bog-standard fitted kitchen look really quite swanky - this does the trick nicely. It's available in pink, cream and silver. I chose the cream version as I'm hoping it will match with all my future kitchens as well as the current one!

This toaster doesn't have ridiculous amounts of features. It has insulated walls so you don't burn your hands, and adjustable slots (up to 28mm) for cooking muffins, accomodating sandwich bags etc. There is no hi-lift though, which makes it a pain for small items. It takes only around a minute and a half to produce hot toast, which is super-quick, far quicker than any of the other toasters I've ever had. This is because its actually designed for commercial use. I didn't choose it because it can make 60 odd slices of toast an hour, but it can, without conking out. For this reason I am anticipating this appliance will last me for years to come!

Which brings me to how this appliance has changed my view on mortality. I have realised that having rubbish disposable toasters never mattered to me in the past because then I thought I would live forever, so nothing else was permanent. This offering from Dualit actually has me thinking it could well outlast me, and the surprising thing is, the thought doesn't scare me, it actually makes me quite proud to have chosen it! I must be getting old.....

I got mine for £99 online, including delivery. You can pay more - up to £150 in the shops, so if you do decide to splash out make sure you have a god look around first.

Overall, this is an expensive toaster, but its a design classic that is built to last for years. Which makes it pretty good value in my eyes!