Apart from the direction of turn, and the red and blue colour coding (of
the top, and of the bottom rubber seal), is there any difference?

I'm asking this because my wife and I both prefer the taps to turn the
opposite way to the 'standard', which is, when off, with the handles
jutting forwards, across the sink bowl. We much prefer the handles to be
parked folded pointing outwards (-o and o-).

I did have the taps arranged this way, but, on two occasions, the hot
tap developed a leak (and another peculiar problem, too long to
explain). The first time it happened (after it had been in service for
three years), I 'cured' it by soaking the insert in Kilrok K for a
couple of hours (as there were signs of lime scale deposits in the
valve). However, after a year, the problem happened again, so I've
replaced the hot and, for good measure, the cold inserts - and, this
time, in their correct positions.

However, although it's over two weeks since I fixed the taps, we still
can't get used to the taps turning the 'correct' way, But before
changing things, I thought I'd ask whether I'm simply going to find that
the hot tap (fitted with cold insert) is likely again to have a
premature problems (and, possibly, vice versa). I really can't see any
obvious mechanical or material differences. I must add that I live in an
area of unbelievably hard water, which does tend to wreck anything
associated with plumbing. Any advice?
--
Ian