Well, the Atomic website has a new home - . I retired a couple of months ago, and I made the reluctant decision to jettison the Atomic domain name. However, I have now reinstated the site as part of my personal website in recognition of the wonderful friendships I have formed through our shared interest in the world's best loved coffee machine. Unless my ISP complains, the new site should be around for the forseeable future.

As time allows, I will upgrade the site to conform to the new layout conventions, which will I hope make it clearer and easier to read. If you have any suggestions for new material you would like to see, please leave me a note.

Making Coffee Wihout Water

I just got a report in about what happens when you put an Atomic on a heat source and leave it there for three hours without water in it. I was asked for an opinion about whether the consequences would be terminal and had to admit I had no idea. I have seen pictures of molten Atomics before, and it isn't a pretty sight, but this one appeared largely unscathed apart from discolouration of the label on top.

My advice was to try a couple of brews without coffee, partly to ameliorate the oxidation effects on the taste, but mostly to reduce the risk of the pressure pot failing catastrophically. I expected the steam seals to have dried out and for there to be an unpleasant taste initially. After that, we were in uncharted waters!

Well, now we can tell you what happens when you make coffee without water and follow my advice:

"I took your advice and had leaks everywhere! I then, on further inspection, found that all of the rubber and silicone washers and gaskets had suffered quite badly. I ordered a full set of new seals from Bon Trading and they arrived in two days. With the new seals fitted the leaks were fixed but the Atomic wasn't performing to its usual standard. (No crema on coffee, couldn't froth the milk very well!) Ten brews later though it has all settled down and once again my Atomic is producing a great coffee. The only problem I had with appearance was that the "Atomic" label on the top had gone dark brown and was unreadable. As I felt I had nothing to lose I took to it with steel wool and after much rubbing I have now returned it to it's original gleaming black and silver appearance.

All in all a lucky escape. I now turn off the gas as soon as I finish frothing the milk!

I think it must have been on a large gas jet on high for about 3 hours after I made a coffee, There would have been water in the pot for I guess only about half that time so I was very lucky it wasn't terminal. If nothing else I hope you can use my experience as a warning for other Atomic users."

Atomic Restoration Service Launched

Today I stumbled across JavaCationS Vintage Espresso machine workshop, based in Brisbane, Australia. I haven't tried them out, but you need a restoration job done on your Atomic, and you don't have the confidence or time to do it yourself, you might like mto contact David at (mobile) 0435876408 or check out his website. They do other machines as well as Atomics. You can find them at 60 Kingsbury Street, Norman Park, Qld 4170, Australia.

New Atomic Book

It's been a while, but at last there is another book about the Atomic. This one is by Mikael Janvier, and in it he reproduces many of the leaflets, brochures, manuals, advertisements and news clippings about the Atomic and Stella models, right back to the earliest times.

Available at Blurb.com
.

Early Jug Handle Shape

Just came across a jug in a second-hand shop - on its own, just the jug - which caught my attention because of the shape of the handle. It is almost triangular in cross section, and is a very simple "ear" shape.

On closer inspection, I made the further discovery that the handle is riveted to the metal, not bolted. This was common with the early models, so I'm picking this is a fairly early example. I have seen pictures of this handle shape before, but this is the first time I have actually seen it in real life, so I thought I'd post a pic or two.

Black Knob Stemac on TradeMe

You don't see 'em very often, but a Stemac Robbiati model has been offered on New Zealand's TradeMe site with a black steamer knob. The machine looks a little bit tired around the badge, but otherwise very tidy, and the relative rarity of the knob should make it interesting for a collector.

At a rough guess, I would say that 98% of all Atomics that change hands have the classical deep red steamer knob. Early Sassoon models often had light blue or light red knobs (these were slightly smaller in diameter than the "standard" model). The American La Sorrentina (the original ones!) sometimes had an emerald green, but these are fairly rare. Black knobs and yellow knobs are also out there, also fairly rare.

OTTO Now Available in New Zealand

The Otto Espresso, easily the cutest salute to the genius of the Atomic, debuted at the Auckland food show and is now available at Atomic Roasters in Kingsland (Auckland) and Caffe L'Affare (Wellington). Retail is NZ$875. My friend Graeme has tried the coffee and says it is pretty good. I understand supplies are still limited, so if you want one it would pay to get in early.

More on Electrical Atomics

Frank Kletschkus sent in these photos of a recent Atomic acquisition. It looks too professionally made to be a backyard mod. The logo on the badge curls gracefully around the pressure gauge and the bar in the base of the coffee clamp is nicely engineered from a metal that expands and contracts at the same rate as the machine.

He notes: I have just bought an electric Atomic like the one in the [earlier] blog on German ebay. The Atomic is somehow bolted to the hot plate which makes a nuisance for cleaning, and renders the unit unusable for camping, which in my opinion is one of the great places to use an Atomic. Though a couple of years ago I saw also on German ebay the same type with the same hot plate as a seperate unit. The badge is very interesting. Though it reads Atomic, it is not in the familiar shape but in circular writing to wrap around the gauge which is centrally mounted. The gauge's needle just starts moving when coffee begins to pour, and reads just above 1 bar when it's time to froth the milk. I used the Krups stainless coffee basket and tamped lightly. Instead of the infamous brass steam wand this Atomic has a little stainless wand with small holes and a bakelite lever so the coffee flow can be shut off. One has to be careful though not to burn the fingers when doing this. The wand's material seems to have the same expansion rate as alloy, as it is doesn't get stuck after cooling. Also it gets hot and expands with the group holder, whereas the brass rod is inserted cold into the hot alloy. The wand and its holes look professionally done. So is it a prototype or some engineer's home conversion?


Anyone able to share any more information about it?

Enduring Design 2

I decided it was about time to incorporate all the ideas, suggestions and critiques into a new edition of the book. So keep an eye out on blurb.com - Enduring Design 2 has now been published, replacing the original book. Main changes are:
a. chapters on anatomy and variants have been combined to reduce duplication
b. new chapters on early manufacturing history and marketing arrangements based on conversations with those involved
c. some new reseller badges
d. more details on research resources

Overall, about 20% more text and 20% more photos, but a few less pages because the new edition is single-spaced instead of 1.5.

My thanks to all those who have contributed.

Green Bakelite Atomic on eBay

There is an Atomic (badged La Sorrentina, but genuine, if you know what I mean!) with green bakelite, just been listed on eBay. Currently in Japan. Bit worn around the badge, but otherwise looks OK.

UPDATE: That machine sold for AU$1225 (US$975). Is this good news?

The Mystery Deepens...

My friend Lucio del Piccolo decided recently to call the Robbiati family in Milan and ask them about their involvement with the Atomic. He spoke to Robbiati's daughter and soon discovered that the family does not really want to discuss Atomic history. They have their family memories and that's the way they want it to stay. Lucio thinks this is a great shame, and so do I, but on the other hand the family is entitled to their privacy -- and it leaves us free to pursue the myths and legends around the Atomic, and to create new ones as we wish.

Electric Atomic

Troy Davis supplied these pictures and would like to know if anyone has any information to share. It appears to be a standard late-model Atomic, badged Robbiati, mounted on an electric element. The quality of workmanship is high. There are several known electric Atomic variants, but this is one I haven't seen before.

A short-lived miracle

I'm told (14 June) that Bon Trading are once again advising customers they are out of stock with supplies expected "in a few months". Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Some more reseller badges

Here are a couple more reseller badges. The Robbiati Milano one comes from Francesco Ceccarelli and the Frentana one from Greg Dahl. I'll add these to the website shortly.

Plus ca change...

Well, it's taken a while, but Bon Trading have finally delivered on their promise to import brand new Atomics. You can see one below. I haven't seen it personally, but I'm told it is a dead ringer for the vintage models, right down to the sample coffee grind in the manual and the bland cardboard box. With two important exceptions. First, as you can see in the top photo, the underside of the kettle has an embossed stamp on it saying "Made in Italy". The second, as you no doubt guessed, is the hole pattern in the baskets. This is circular rather than star-shaped, but since BT has been supplying the round pattern for several years, this is not a surprise.

It remains to be seen whether the market will come to regard these "modern" Atomics as simply a continuation of the vintage pedigree, or whether they will be viewed as yet another pretender to the Atomic throne alongside the La Sorrentina reproductions. The first clue is already here - prices for good vintage machines are flat, which might just be a reflection of the global economy, but maybe it also suggests buyers are happy to accept the modern versions for their looks alone. And prices for the modern versions have been set within a fairly narrow band, which might stabilise prices around this level, and provide a "ceiling price" for vintage machines. I guess we'll see.

My grateful thanks to Jon for the pics.

Two New Badges Added to Website

Ugo da Milano has thoughtfully provided images of two badges from his collection (which you can see at his website) The one at left is a Swiss badge - Culinor - while the one at right is another Milan one: Stemac.

New Bon Trading Atomics Available?

Just got a report that a new Atomic has just been purchased from Bon Trading in Sydney. How do we know it's new? Well, the underside of the base has a "Made in Italy" embossed stamp which distinguishes it from the "vintage" machines that don't have any stamp at all. Cost was A$495. I hope we'll get a pic of the stamp to post on the website sometime soon.

Nothing much else has changed, reportedly. The box is still plain and junky, the coffee sample is the same, the manual is no different. So in some respects tradition dies hard. We'll have to wait for history to tell us whether these new Bon Trading Atomics are regarded as an unbroken continuation of the vintage tradition or merely another modern version.

So the "Atomic wars" are hotting up... Now we have these "new" Bon Trading machines joining the ranks of pretenders to succeed Robbiati's vintage cutie, alongside the La Sorrentina reproductions, and shortly the Otto espresso.

Long live the Atomic!!

Earlier date for brass steam rod?

A seller on New Zealand's TradeMe auction site has an Atomic (no badge, but a Thos. Cara manual) with the brass steam rod included in the coffee clamp. I always thought this innovation was quite a late one - most likely 1980s - but the seller is adamant that she bought the Atomic in the 1970s. So I guess I'll be rewriting that little bit of my version of Atomic history!

Who can you believe?

A quick look through the published references to Atomics (and it has to be quick, because there are very few published references!) shows some very strange-looking Atomics, as well as some more conventional views. Ernest Bramah gets it pretty much right - he gets the dates right and here is his illustration...



Ian Bersten also produces a familiar image, but he attributes Robbiati's patent to 1956...


From here on, it gets weirder and weirder. Fumagalli sets the date at 1950, which is approximately right, but his illustration indicates some mix'n'match activities with the jug...


As does Bhaskaran...


The jugs in the latter two illustrations are certainly from the right period, but I'd bet money they were never designed by Robbiati.

For details of the books concerned, check out the Atomic Website References

Aetna - a new Atomic Badge?

Rachel Greene just sent me this pic of an Atomic with one of the very few badges that does not mention the word "atomic" anywhere. (The others are La Sorrentina and Life-Ware.) The machine in question appears to be a 'B' type with a small, tall jug. Because there is no mention of the reseller's location and the patent statement is in Italian, I'd guess they were in Italy, possibly in the 1960s.