Tiffany Co. Sterling Silver Flatware Review: Set, Spoons, Fork, Knives

Tiffany sterling silver flatware joins the company's china and vases (and other home accessories) to provide a range of high quality kitchen equipment that can useful both habitually and during celebrations – depending on the design and the pattern.

Spoons, forks and knives comprise the three main components; besides the regular dinner table variations, Tiffany offer less frequently used salad serving, turkey stuffing, and pierced vegetable spoons.

Though all made from sterling silver, different designs can project almost directly opposite ideas of homeliness and comfort. Classic Edwardian patterns – usually very complex, and reminiscent of various coats of arms – express ambition and larger than life attitude we would expect to find in a house with strong political traditions.

Minimalistic, vestigial ornaments bring to mind puritanic or other religious values. Either way, Tiffany flatware can be highly expressive in embodying family principles and traditions.

• Audubon pattern covers the entire handle in intricate floral and animal motifs: a bird appears to sit on one of the branches, evoking past hunting habits.

• Padova – Elsa Peretti's design undoes all the aristocratic references with one bold loop. The handle on her instruments consists of a single loop, a feature that can useful in hanging the knives and the forks when storing them. A clearly modern design.

• Chrysanthemum patterns return to luscious botanic themes of Audubon, but injected with a sense of intimacy. An empty spot in the middle of the pattern, surrounded by vines and leaves, brings to mind the notion of home as a safe haven.

• Provence, and the more festive English King patterns replicate the shape of a crown, and add some architectural motifs. Resulting flatware combines Audubon's aristocratic characteristics with Ancient Greece inspired restraint and clarity of design. These ornaments appear the most familiar, despite the high class references: they were popularized some time ago, and today remind everyone that each house is its owner's castle.