Would you like some fresh ground pepper with that?

One piece of kitchenware that has eluded me is the "modern" pepper grinder. Why must all pepper grinders look like turned wooden canopy bed finials? Ergonomically speaking, it may be the best shape for grinding, but the hourglass-with-bulbous-top-and-little-metal-grinder-screw is tired, ya'll. Yawn. We actually have an ugly-ass boring birch one that malfunctions, and I've had it. So a little search on the interweb yielded some good results. Some criteria for my search:

1. No perfectly cylindrical stainless steel solutions, a la Peugeot. Too masculine.
2. No fussy knobs or anthropomorphic shapes, a la Alessi or Michael Graves. Too cutesy.
3. No little screw parts, or multi-sections. I just want a nice, flowing, organic shape.
4. No ACTUAL midcentury modern grinders. There's a lot of old stuff out there that's really interesting, but for my purposes, I'm not including them here.

So here they are. Feel free to clue me in on any more that you may find! I'm always on the hunt.

Bollard Teak Salt & Pepper Grinder & Plate De Menage
This one's cute and it comes with a handled plate for carrying around. I like that because it catches all the little ground up bits that end up on your counter. This comes in 2 kinds of wood.


iittala - Collective Tools Pepper Mill
I like these for the proportion of the twist handle, and the three handle colors available. I think this one would feel good, and there's less chance of loose parts (a big problem with some conventional grinders).


Birch Salt & Pepper Mills
If you must have a wooden mill, this is a nice solution. Nice, smooth finish. Not too precious. It knows what it is, and it's working it in a quiet way.


Georg Jensen Twist Salt & Pepper Mill
Here's a little somethin' special. Why not? Hopefully it's ergonomically sound. Whatevs. I just wanted to throw something interesting in the pot.