Maker
Le Creuset
France
If you think Le Creuset cookware is colorful, wait till you hear the history. It all started in 1925 when French founders Armand Desaegher and Octave Aubecq opened their foundry in Fresnoy-Le-Grand and gave cast iron cookware a kick of versatility by—wait for it—coating it in a porcelain enamel glaze. They created the first cocotte, or French oven, of its kind: a flame-orange pot in a sea of only black and grey. (They chose that color to mimic the look of molten cast iron—who knew?) Now, Le Creuset is still operating out of the same factory where it began, artisan-crafting pieces beloved by cooks and renowned chefs the world over.