It's safe to say that Tizio has become a design icon - that rare product, like a Mont Blanc pen, Movado timepiece, or a Mercedes Benz automobile - that characterizes not only the best of its kind but also serves as a symbol of unparalleled excellence.

As Hans Hoger wrote in Design Classics, "Tizio became an image carrier. It is used not only for its lighting qualities, but also because it is capable of symbolically representing a certain understanding of design, and connected with that, a certain lifestyle.

Since its creation, Tizio's form has been showered with awards and praise. In addition to its presence at New York's Metropolitan Museum and the Musuem of Modern Art, Tizio is in the permanent design collection at museums in Milan, Mexico, London, Philadelphia, Denver, among others.

Unlike all of the other lamps that came before it, Tizio did not use cumbersome tension springs enabling the lamp to hold in place when moved or adjusted. Instead, the innovative Tizio features an extraordinary balance made possible by counterweights combined with the use of two arms - the first time the approach had ever been used. It is the absolute perfect implementation of this design that enables a Tizio owner to adjust the position of the lamp with the slightest tap of the finger.

Tizio was also the first lamp in history to employ the bearing arm structure as an electrical, low voltage conductor, a design that replaces the unsightly wires associated with other lamp designs. The lamp's fiberglass-reinforced nylon coating, a plastic material that is sturdy but light, was another Tizio first that had never been used before in lamp construction.

Tizio fared well on another functional front as well. Tizio is, after all, a halogen lamp. In the history of the halogen table lamps designed for living and work areas, Tizio is the first design whose overall concept actually takes into account the true potential of the halogen bulb. One evening with a Tizio will clearly demonstrate the inherent benefit and functionality of a well-built halogen lamp.

Another often overlooked feature of Tizio is its "snap but don't break" resilience. Key joints in the lamp are fastened not with screws but rather fasteners. This construction allows the Tizio, should it be knocked over or fall to the ground, to snap apart rather than break. As Hoger writes, "the lamp doesn't need to be thrown away after the first mishap. Instead, it can simply be snapped back together" - a valuable feature for busy and cramped homes or offices.