I want to buy my wife formal china for Christmas. Her taste is very
contemporary and she would like a plain white set with a silver trim
(or something similar).

I want to buy a set of China that has meaning. I prefer to buy
something made or designed by somebody on Long Island (NY), in NY,
Germany or Italy.

Please give me 3-5 choices (links) where I can buy these online, or
where I can travel (Long Island or NYC) to purchase them.

Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by guillermo-ga on 30 Nov 2005 07:21 PST

Hello Cornchip-ga,

After some preliminary research, I think that I can offer to you the
required links -maybe more- for China tea-sets online providers. Now,
matching at the same time a precise design, origin of the product and
location of the provider is highly unlikely. Would you be interested
in just the links for online providers as an answer? Please let me
know. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Guillermo

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Clarification of Question by cornchip-ga on 30 Nov 2005 07:48 PST

Actually, I have found plenty of places to buy China - but I am
looking for a designer or a company that offers contemporary designs
and is from one of the places I listed.

I want the plates to have meaning to my wife and I. We love NY. I
would love to see a set of fine dinnerware designed by a local NY
artist, or manufactured on Long Island (rather than in China).

I'll tell you what I have already which is: Noritake, Meissen and
Weimar... none of which really meet my requirements.

Noritake is located in NY, but they are just importers. They don't do the design.

Meissen and Weimar are from Germany, but they do not have contemporary designs.

Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by guillermo-ga on 30 Nov 2005 07:56 PST

Thank you for your clarification, I understand better your requirement
now. I don't think I could help you further with this, so I'll let it
open for other researchers who might do it.

Regards,

Guillermo

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Clarification of Question by cornchip-ga on 30 Nov 2005 11:13 PST

Okay. Thanks.

I suggest something slightly different.

Print up a 'Formal China' voucher and jokingly present it to her.

Hopefully your Question will come up with some local outlets, so you
and your wife can plan a day 'shopping' for it.

Unless you know /exactly/ what she would like, you are taking a major
chance getting 'something similar'.

Also, she would have told you what she wants by now
- probably about three times
- in which case you would not be posting the question

http://www.michaelcfina.com/ic/mcfina/sections/tableware_entertaining/formal_dinnerware/banded/:product/sku/CHFIPUFIPS.html

This might suit your needs.  Michael C. Fina is a New York City based
company.  Here is some history about them:
http://www.michaelcfina.com/ic/mcfina/auxiliary/company_history.html

They have numerous other China patterns that match your
description(look under the "banded" category), but none of the others
seem to be based in the areas you are seeking.

Wow. Really good find galincog-ga. Thank you.

I'll visit this store on Friday and post what I find.

In the meantime, if anybody else finds more, please let me know.

Cornchip,
Galincog has sure found you a great source, but you will notice that
all the "banded" table ware are produced by foreign makers  - well, at
least not any local to you.  I doubt that there are any, but the
selection of banded models is very extensive.
I really agree with Frde-ga: give her a gift certificate, maybe
accompanied with print-outs from the site (letting you sort by price,
if that is a consideration) and then make it good outing to choose.
If you are going for the whole service, the choice of shapes for soup
cups or dishes and serving pieces may also influence her decision  -
not just the pattern.

Another consideration, since you mention silver trim (or something
similar)is that metalic trims are not amenable to dish-washer
cleaning, at least from my experience.  Something to ask about.

Good luck, Myoarin

Further to MyOarIn's point about stuff being 'dishwasher friendly'
- different metals set up an electrolytic cell, like a battery, or the
way electro plating works
- ideally the only metal that should go in a dishwasher is high
quality stainless steel

Another tip, when you find what you like, give it a few weeks, then
nip out and get a second set (or half set) and stash it in the
basement or attic, it will reduce heartache when things get broken.