If you walked into a residential or hospitality-industry bathroom, and saw one of these, would you know what it was?

That's the Gordon, which British manufacturer Eskimo Design bills as "Europe's most innovative towel warmer" and "the best electric towel rail you will ever own."

The shape doesn't seem particularly efficient to me—I'd think you'd want as few creases in the hung towel as possible, to speed even drying—but the company explains why their extruded-fin design performs better:

"Humidity. This is where the traditional ladder rail design breaks down completely. Not only does it not provide adequate airflow, but due to the horizontal nature of the towel hanging it also traps a pocket of damp air underneath the towel that, once it has become saturated with moisture, cannot absorb any more and so prevents the towel from drying further in that area. Gordon towel radiator's use of long vertical fins provides free air galleries that constantly exhaust the humid air, replacing it with dry air from underneath the towel warmer."

Eskimo also claims their product is ultra-efficient. "Our vertical heated towel rail is engineered to provide exceptional value for money when it comes to power consumption," they write. "Gordon could be left on for the year-round and still would clock in less electricity usage than a traditional heated rail."

Lastly, they say the product is faster to produce results than incumbent designs: "Multiple test results have shown that Gordon reached the optimum operating temperature up to three times quicker than the traditional heated towel rails."

Though Eskimo is a British company that primarily targets the European market, they do produce 110V versions for U.S. buyers. They run $425 for the skinner four-finned version, while the wider 8-finned Gordon Double runs $773. Both come with a 10-year warranty.