What makes one thing a treasure and another simply a thing?

Working in a design environment I think about this a lot. A treasure is something that has value. Not necessarily monetary value but value in the sense that it adds something to people’s lives. It has been created with care and consideration and in turn is cared for and cherished.

All of our 26 Treasures in the V&A are priceless. Some because of the rarity and refinement of their materials, but others simply through the passage of time and the wealth of stories that have been woven into their fabric.

In my mind, a design treasure is something that has been created to fulfil its function in the most perfectly considered way. A kettle with a perfectly sputter-less spout, a chair that perfectly fits the human form, a mop that perfectly swirls and shines.

Design works with the imperfect, the changeable, the uncontrollable and finds perfectly simple yet beautiful solutions to relieve the niggles in life. Just take a look around the rest of the V&A exhibits and you’ll see everyday treasures that have changed the world.

When something has been created without consideration or care it stays firmly in the realm of ‘thing’.

Look at all the things in our lives. The streetlamps, the dustbins, the petrol stations and the traffic lights and just imagine if we could start again, creating them as treasures where you least expect and would most appreciate them.

We all need fewer things and more treasures.

- Sylvie Saunders