Beautiful teapot! I love the look of the semi-gloss satin black with the wood look handle. The handle is supposed to be useable without a pot holder, staying cool, once water has boiled, however this was not the case and in the instructions it says allow to cool if using gas. I’m not sure what the difference between electric or gas would be. Honestly I like my tea really hot so I’ll use a pot holder. Easy to use mechanism to open and close.