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New Silver Cutlery or Antique Silver - The Pros and Cons Explained

Silver cutlery does not always have to be antique silver. It’s still possible to commission bespoke cutlery sets, handmade by real silver crafts people. Neither is cheap though of course the creation of bespoke cutlery will generally set you back less per item than purchasing a rare antique silver cutlery set. So the question is – which is better?

The answer, of course, is “whichever you prefer”, though there are a caveat or two. Namely that antique silver is by its nature less likely to be used for actual consumption of food: if it is valuable enough to be collected as antique you would, one would imagine, be purchasing it for display purposes.

So perhaps the question ought to be – when is new silver cutlery preferable to its antique counterpart? In this case the answer would be - when you’re actually using it to eat with.

The beautiful thing about new silver cutlery is that it bears all the design and craftsmanship of Old Silver – but as brand new it can be used without worrying. A range of styles are available in which to have your cutlery made, from the simple beauty of an Art Deco shape and edge to a complex filigree of floral leaves or vines, as ornate as anything you would expect to see in a priceless antique silver set.

The handmade silver cutlery set is of the same quality as its antique counterpart because it is made by hand. Silver cutlery has been handmade in Britain for hundreds of years and the process hasn’t changed a bit. It is still made in the old process, where every bit of curving is done with hands. You start with a single silver ingot and hammer it, by hand, into the die (which produces the pattern). A silversmith with genuine dies showing true English and British patterns (many of which define a particular period, all of which are authentic) can effectively produce a cutlery set no different from what your antique silver cutlery set looked like when it was new.

Handmade silver cutlery is weightier, with more definition in the patterns, more quality in the blades and more depth to the bowls of spoons or the curve of fork tines. It can be produced as Pure Silver, or you can have it made as silver-gilt – a pure silver core with gilting laid over the top.

Of course, pricing even for a modern silver cutlery set is substantial. While antique silver is priced by age and previous ownership, as well as maker and condition, and so can command extraordinary values for a good example in Great Condition, modern cutlery is priced according to the worth of the metal plus the time and skill of the crafts person. A typical 12 Piece Silver cutlery set will take around fifteen weeks to prepare. However, when it comes to these classic beauties, the wait is worth for the quality, style and finish.

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Author Bio:

antique silver has its own air of breeding: and modern silver cutlery , hand forged, is part of that same rarefied line.

any ideas about value of antique silver punch bowl set?

My grandmother left me a very gorgeous and very Large Silver punch bowl set. It's complete with bowl, ladle, and 12 cups. The bottoms of the cups say "Eugen Ferner 1958".
I am in no way wanting to sell this set, but I'd love to know about how much it could be worth for the sake of knowing and for homeowner's insurance reference in the future. I plan on contacting an appraiser at some point but I was hoping that someone out there might have an educated guess. Thanks!

Since its nor relativly old I am assume it doesnt have any rarity value. If its solid silver weigh it. 1 ounce of silver is worth around 45 dollars right now.
1 Ounce equals 31.33 grams
However if its crafted nicely it might be worth more
Best of luck and congrats on the new find.

Tags: antique silver, antique silver cufflinks, antique silver flatware, antique silver jewelry, antique silver markings, antique silver plate, antique silver spoons, antique silver tea set, antique silverware, antique silverware value

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 9th, 2010 at 4:09 am and is filed under Silver Antiques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.