Customer Reviews

Sterling Silver Flatware for Dining Elegance (Schiffer Book for Collectors)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I could not be more pleased with this book. It is 204 pages of excellent photographs and descriptions of many patterns, along with a history of the unusual pieces and their original uses. The price guide is just *one* page in this book and is meant only to provide a range. Such a guide would be out of date as soon as published, and it is not realistic to expect it to be current or definitive. (It may have been better left out!) This is the finest book I have seen for a serious silver flatware collector.

Lovely pictures and good descriptions for use of various pieces of flatware.

The "Price Guide" is totally useless! Examples: "Dinner Forks $45-110" "Teaspoons $30-85" "Macaroni Servers $295-1250"

All pieces are priced and listed just this way. Listing such a dollar range with no patterns or manufacturers mentioned, makes the price guide of no value.

This book is full of absolutely beautiful photos of (mostly old) American sterling place and serving pieces. Its strength is to help identify unusual pieces that people today don't have a clue about. Not very useful for identifying patterns, unless you happen to stumble across a photo of a pattern whose name you are seeking. Patterns are not indexed, but types of pieces are. The price guide (e.g., $30 to $85 for a teaspoon) is absolutely useless. Interesting form to photocopy to use to keep track of pieces you acquire.

I could not be more pleased with this book. It contains page after page of beautifully photographed flatware and contains the history of numerous popular patterns and the great number of pieces available in the various patterns, including the rare and unusual pieces.

Having purchased several books in the past on various collectibles, I thought this book would be a little more informative. It does have lovely pictures of the patterns, but I would have like to have seen the focus maybe be on some key sterling flatware patterns, giving examples of various pieces that may be available in the pattern and a rough range of what prices would be like. Instead it is set up more to show various patterns by piece, which does focus on some patterns throughout the book, but some very collectible patterns are barely even covered in the book. If you are looking for something to help you learn a pattern and options it may have, I don't think this is the book for you.

Do you know what a spinach fork looks like? Perhaps an ice cream saw? How about a marrow spoon? An aspic knife? A claret spoon? A baked potato fork? When it comes to picking up old and odd/usual flatware and asking yourself, "What in the heck is that?" this book will answer that question. Excellent and detailed reference guide for any collector of odd or unusual flatware.

EXCELLENT customer service provided for this very informative book. Helped identify many very unusual pieces.