A look at what’s new or still novel for the bathroom finds high-tech ways for running hot water and warming towels, plus a tub in which you might want to soak forever, another you can see through, and another in which you can see the lights. We also discover faucets that look like diamonds and cabinet knobs that look like candy, one sink formed from a slab of semiprecious stone and another sink that, by design, won’t hold any water. Why equip a lavatory so lavishly? Because while most visits there are out of necessity, some can be acts of indulgence.

Hydrology Ondus
and AQua Jewels From Hydrology, a Chicago studio that designs and distributes bathroom sinks, tubs, and faucets and other fixtures, come high-tech and multifaceted ways to run a bath—or take a shower or fill a sink. The new Aqua Jewels faucet collection (above), by Dutch designer Marcel Wanders, features facets that replicate those of brilliant- and round-cut diamonds. The collection, which also includes fixtures for baths, showers, sinks, and bidets, is available with a polished chrome or gold finish. The Ondus digital bath technology (left), designed by Britain’s Paul Flowers, has a digital readout device on the bath filler that lets you preset water temperatures for multiple users. The system has a total of 16 programmable menu options.

Thoms & Nilsson HF01 Sink
Although it was initially introduced six years ago, this sink—from the Swedish design studio whose products also include benches, birdbaths, and ice sculptures—remains a curiosity because it has no basin. But as the company’s description of the sink explains, basins really have become obsolete; their purpose is to mix hot and cold water, and we now have faucets performing this function. So with the HF01, instead of gathering in a basin, the water washes over the polished stone that sits where a basin would normally be positioned. The water then runs down, inside the maple wood beam supporting the stone, to a drain on the floor.

ThermiQue Towel Warmer
It might not be so difficult to break away from the soothing sensation of a hot shower when you know that a warm towel awaits you. These towel warmers are unusual in that they feature heated glass tubes instead of metal bars. (Thermique Technologies, an Illinois company, also produces heated glass products used in medical facilities.) The towel warmers are freestanding and plug into a GFCI wall outlet. The company also offers a wall-mounted version. Both models are available in white, cream, black, polished chrome, brushed nickel, and combinations of each of the three colors with chrome. Prices for the freestanding models range from $1,300 to $1,500, depending on the finish.

Boffi Glass Bathtub
The tub, which was designed by the Italian kitchen and bath company’s creative director, Piero Lissoni, is made from panes of float glass that are 15 mm thick and attached to each other with black silicone. The tub’s sloping back wall allows you to recline in as much as 96 gallons of water. Behind the slope is shelving space for towels and bath gels. The bath costs about $21,000 and is available from one of Boffi’s seven U.S. showrooms, including the ones in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami.

SpectraDécor Quilts Cabinet Hardware
Now this is what you call eye candy. These drawer and cabinet knobs and handles looks tasty enough to nibble on, and they will brighten any bathroom or kitchen—or any other room in the house. The hardware collection represents a collaboration between Leilani Norman-Young and Erin Adams. Norman-Young is the founder and designer for SpectraDécor, a Seattle studio that also produces drapery hardware, door pulls, tile, and vessel sinks. Adams is a tile designer in Albuquerque, N.M., who has designed tile collections for Ann Sacks. Adams describes the Quilts collection as “small pyramids of stacked stained glass in alternating colors.”

Kohler Sok Tub
The sok tub, which Kohler first introduced about four years ago, works as hard as any masseuse at making sure you’re relaxed. As with an infinity pool, water continuously flows over the sides with a gentle, soothing rhythm. (A built-in channel captures that water, which is circulated back into the bath.) Meanwhile, a dozen portals in the bath produce thousands of tiny bubbles, creating the sensation of bathing in Champagne. And if that’s not enough to put you at ease, the chromatherapy feature, involving four LED lights set within the tub’s inner walls, sequentially displays eight different colors. Together, the cascading water, the bubbles, and the colors should be enough to wash away any blues.

Villeroy & Boch by Zehnder Cinus Towel Radiator
This wall-mounted towel warmer is made by Zehnder, a Swiss company that manufactured motorcycles in the 1920s, until the Depression forced it out of that field and into the business of making tubular steel radiators, where its workers could apply the experience they had gained while welding steel tubing to produce motorcycles. The Cinus towel radiator has a starting price of $2,400, and it is available in 15 different colors or finishes, including the Shiny Sun color shown here as well as Wine Red, Brilliant Blue, and Oil Rubbed Bronze.

Cactus Stone Natural Agate
Interior designer Lori Carroll of Tucson, Ariz., used this slab of natural agate from Cactus Stone’s Semi-Precious Collection as the base of a sink for a residential bathroom she designed. Cactus Stone, which is located in Phoenix, is an importer and wholesale distributor of natural stone slabs. The company offers 27 different patterns in its Semi-Precious Collection. The slabs are assembled on the island of Mauritius, in the southern Indian Ocean. Agate is among the many semiprecious stones that are naturally translucent and display vibrant colors when backlit.

Sonoma Cast Stone Double Wave Bathtub
The contours on the bottom are intended to add to the comfort of reclining in this two-person, 130-gallon concrete tub. And if you need further enticement to remain seated and soaking, you can add the optional embedded heating coil, which lets you keep the water at a preferred temperature indefinitely. The tub is made from EarthCrete, a recycled concrete that Sonoma Cast Stone claims is harder, stronger, and lighter than traditional concrete. The tub is available with MetalCrete, a finish that adds a permanent copper, nickel, brass, bronze, or steel plating to the concrete.