Furniture that will last for generations: These handsome Za stools, designed by Naoto Fukasawa for Emeco, are handmade in the U.S.

Made from recycled aluminum (which can of course be recycled itself), the stools come in three heights.

Finishes include hand-brushed and clear anodized, powder-coated in a choice of six colors, and a stunning (and stunningly expensive) hand-polished version that is also clear-anodized.

Aside from finishes, you can opt to add seat pads made from Merino wool felt ($130) or vegetable-tanned leather ($235).

The seats for all three sizes have the same 17.875" (45cm) diameter. The short stool provides a seating height of 18.75" (48cm), while the counter-height stool is 25" (64cm) and the bar height is 30" (76cm).

Whether hand-brushed or powder-coated with a color, the prices are the same: $590 for the short stool, while the counter- and bar-height models aren't much more at $640. However, the hand-polished models—the company says the process is done three times and takes eight hours—nearly doubles the price regardless of model. American labor ain't cheap!

Speaking of American labor, here's a look at the stool's manufacturing process at Emeco's facility in Hanover, Pennsylvania:

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