Smeg Opera A42 looks great, stylish and well finished, but a shame it is such a pile of rubbish otherwise. Personally experienced 3 elements failing, timer and grill breaking. Got to the point where it would trip house power. I am now deeply cynical of "wow what a superb cooker" reviews. I you're real - then you were lucky. Look online at service forums to find real experiences. Avoid Smeg - Italian design is not enough if you want to cook on it. It has lived up to the vulgar name association.

We've had a Smeg Opera A4-2 (dual fuel model) and it has been wonderful. We've never had any problems with it - except when someone accidentally dislodged the oven's cooking element, which we simply pushed back into its plug in the back of the oven. We've had it for 7 years and if I could get one in the US, I would, as there are no double convection ovens/gas cooktops with a smaller top oven and larger bottom oven and heavy duty flush to the surface grates. Our Smeg is well made, beautiful, looks and works as well today as it did when it was delivered. Maybe we're just lucky, but we have friends with other Smeg Opera models who are equally happy with their performance. Having moved from France to the US, I would purchase the same model here if it were available in the US.