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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 American Sterling Silver
 Tiffany flatware
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| Author | Topic: Tiffany flatware |
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India Posts: 1 |
posted 11-28-2010 09:35 AM
  
I received 8 dinner-size place settings of Tiffany's English King when I was married in 1966. It's quite heavy. A couple of years later, I returned it to Tiffany s and had vermeil applied. Six or seven years ago, I had some of the vermeil re-done by Patrick Gill, who at that time was doing all of Tiffany's vermeil work. I would like to expand my place settings to 12 and have been looking both at Tiffany's web site prices and other places online such as ebay and Replacements. In most instances, the prices of the replacement silver is higher than that of new at Tiffany's! Does this mean that the new is lighter in weight than what I got from them in 1966? I want all of this to be the same. I know I won't find much in vermeil, but I have found someone who appears to have taken over Tiffany's vermeil work since Patrick Gill no longer does it. With the price of gold what it is, it sure is WAY more expensive than it was 6-7 years ago! Any advice on the weight of Tiffany flatware will be greatly appreciated. IP: Logged |
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salmoned Posts: 336 |
posted 11-30-2010 04:16 AM
I suggest you correspond with the lower-priced website retailer (Tiffany's) and inquire as to the average weight of each piece. Then you can easily compare their response with the weight of your current pieces. No third party opinion required. [This message has been edited by salmoned (edited 11-30-2010).] IP: Logged |
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Kimo Posts: 1627 |
posted 11-30-2010 06:19 PM
I do not know the specific answer to your question, but in general the quality (including workmanship, detailing, and weight) of sterling flatware has declined noticeably from the time period of the late 1800s and early 1900s to more modern production. I do not know if there has been further deterioration in Tiffany from the 1960s (which is relatively modern) to the present day, but the suggestion that you ask Tiffany about the weight of a current production fork or spoon and compare that to the weight of one of yours might be a place to start. Or better yet, just go into a Tiffany store in your area with a couple of your pieces of flatware and lay them down next to some new ones and decide for yourself. Take a close look at not only the weight but also the workmanship and detailing to see if they are now using somewhat worn dies for your pattern or stinting on the amount of hand work to burnish or detail each piece to save money or increase their profits. I am sure they will say current production quality is no less than ever in their history, but all you would need to do is to go to an antique dealer and look at some Tiffany from the 1800s or early 1900s to see that is not true. [This message has been edited by Kimo (edited 11-30-2010).] IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 11-30-2010 08:15 PM
If you take Kimo's excellent advice, be sure to bring a magnifying glass or jeweler's loupe. IP: Logged |
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Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 |
posted 11-30-2010 08:33 PM
The quality of Tiffany silver remained very high until the mid 1980s when their standards began to decline. IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 12-02-2010 04:34 PM
Interesting, because that is the time (mid-1980s) when Tiffany ceased making silver in their Newark factory, and sent all the dies up to the Lunt factory in New England. Of course, even steel dies wear over time, which resulted in a softening of the details on the more elaborate Tiffany patterns. IP: Logged |
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