I have a set of sterling dessert forks with a local jeweler’s mark that I get excited to use, I think they impress me more than anyone else.How did I miss this thread? I love these kinds of things!!!
My rule is that the item must be something I will use though, and I will use them. It's fun to pull out proper pieces to set a table, and to befuddle my nieces/nephews with pieces that make them question my sanity. I have utensils in both silver-plate and sterling. China in assorted pieces from family and foundlings (thrift shops.) I typically search antique shops for things to complete items I already have. For example, my grandmother bought her holiday dishes from Woolsworth (a five and dime store) on sale after holidays one year. I've added pieces in the same pattern to it. Currently, I have been hunting for sterling ice cream spoons in Fairfax by Gorham Durgin without a monogram OR silverplate ice cream spoons in Memory 1937. I know they have them in the Fairfax pattern but have mixed responses regarding the Memory 1937 pattern. So far, I am unwilling to sell my soul for the prices asked for the spoons in the Fairfax design.
I love the egg coddlers and gorgeous uranium glass. The green glass juicer looks like one my aunt had. It was from the 40s or 50s. She called it "depression glass."
Here are some of the things I have in my "everyday flatware" drawer as I use them often. And all are in need of a polish since I was delayed with my mid-November polishing this year. Also, all go right into the dishwasher when I use them.
So....I have dessert forks, tomato (or summer vegetable slices) servers, an olive pick, sardine forks, and toast server.
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Yes, the table is lovely when set. The china and glassware are all in a glassed-in china cabinet. I enjoy looking at them every time I walk by the cabinet, which is halfway between the living room and kitchen, so I see them multiple times a day. Warms my heart!!@Katie H Katie, I'll bet those pieces make a gorgeous table. Please tell me that you use them fairly regularly! Too pretty to keep locked up most of the year!
I wash my sterling and my silverplate in the dishwasher all of the time. Through the year, they develop a soft patina in crevices that is actually quite pretty. Around Thanksgiving (except for this year,) I roll out all of my silver and spend a day polishing everything.
With my silver-plated set, I have luncheon knives, forks, and spoons as well as their dinner-sized counterparts. Also, I have place settings for 8 in the Grille (Viande) style of the same pattern. The Viande pieces were given to my great-grandmother from her brothers one year for Christmas. She was delighted that they matched her pattern. The Grille (Viande) pieces differ in that the forks have longer handles but shorter tines and the knives have longer handles with shorter blades. To be honest, I find them easier to use at times. I don't know much about "why" these pieces were introduced other than they were vogue in the mid-century.
I think you may have misunderstood me, no? Stirling and Silver Plate are still silver - it is the stainless that causes the problem.when you have stainless and silver touching.