Good quality tableware

A question about : Good quality tableware

Hi All,

I'm after some good quality durable (won't chip in most clashes with it's family) tableware - preferably in sets as paying per plate etc frustrates me!

I like the proper Denby stuff (i.e. not the 'everyday' or 'intro' ranges) - it would win a fight against the kitchen tiles, but the price is ridiculous (in my opinion). I'm looking for something just as good but for half the price if such a thing exists.

Help?!

Best answers:

• here was me thinking this would be an easy answer!
  "we've got some Joe Bloggs Tableware, from so and so, cost Ј80 but it's solid and modern looking"
  Anyone?
• Thanks Sarah, and I agree. I guess what I mean is it can't be great quality like denby - then a massive drop in quality all the way down to the stuff you'd pick up from Argos - they're must be a scale of quality.
  Maybe it's as durable, but not as pretty - that sort of thing?!
• Is there a Denby factory shop near you?
  https://www.denby.co.uk/pcat/factory_shops
  They often do BOGOF offers.
  I have had Denby for over 20 years - before then I was young and liked to change themes every now and again. Now I've just got two designs and use one for formal dining and the other for everyday use.
  I have been tempted recently to buy a new set but the quality of the new stuff has put me off. I was going to get the Halo design a couple of years ago but everytime I went into a store they had some chips on items which indicated to me that they weren't up to normal standards.
  I'd recommend a factory shop for an earlier design or you can get some good used sets on ebay.
  I have no issues with second hand crockery; after all, how many people have eaten from restaurant plates over their lifetime?
• All my tableware is antique or at least very old simply because of the beauty and quality of it..........and picked up for tiny amounts at auctions and charity shops.
  New 'anything' is generally of poorer workmanship than of old; they really don't make 'em like they used to, and that includes furniture, clothes, leather goods, flatware, lighting......unless of course you spend a fortune.
  I'm currently using a 1900's blue and white Staffordshire dinner service which cost me around Ј15 from a local auction and from which a side plate recently survived a drop onto flagstones.
• This is a great collection:
  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DENBY-STON...item3aa2552ceb
  and so is this:
  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2216882216...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
  My Imperial Blue set is 20+ years old and still going strong.
• thanks Tiddlywinks - the second hand ebay idea never crossed my mind but I'm tempted - just need the right set to come up somewhere within driving distance.
• +1 for ebay collection only clearance opportunities.
  Also register with Denby as a customer & establish which patterns you're interested in. We run Imperial Blue & they do have 50% off firsts (then UK P&P usually around Ј6 but you get a LOT of bubblewrap with that!)
  Keep an eye out for department store opening (or the like) special offers? I started my hope chest of Denby when a store had 20% off everything & another 10% on top of that if you paid by store card. Their china department & I were on first name terms for several months as items were delivered to store (which dates things a bit).
  Short term, find one or two denby plates you like & ruthlessly tour charity shops looking for "more like this" (I added "to replace the rest I dropped on a genuinely stone floor"). Build up a 'harlequin' set of robust & lovely Denby at under Ј2 an item and put the same money aside to buy seconds or whatever you can from the outlet malls. Plates, bowls mugs - they need not match at first, just survive. The money on not buying matching firsts can be squirrelled to spend when the special discounts come through!
  Enjoy & good luck!
• I agree about the factory shop (eg Junc 27 M1), if you don't mind some minor imperfections in the patterns. Our Azure cost a fraction. Not sure it'd survive the kitchen floor though.