It's a beautiful teapot and the blooming tea is a treat to watch. It makes a great gift - which is what I bought it for this time after receiving one from someone else earlier on. I do want to feedback that the design of the cover is not very good, falls off easily if you tilt the pot too much, like if you're pouring out the last bit of tea. And then it shatters and your pot is left with no cover. Wish that could be fixed or that they sold covers separately because my husband and a guest have each broken 1 cover (total 2 covers... Yes we had 2 of these pots) the exact same way: tilting the pot to pour the tea and the cover fell off and shattered :(
Otherwise, it's makes a beautiful gift.