Hammered Silverware Set | Premium 18/10 Stainless Steel Flatware Service for 6 | Heavy-Duty & Dishwasher Safe | Built to Last (30-Piece, Fidenza Hammered)

Is this really my life now? Getting excited over a nice set of flatware?Anyways, BLUF - I shopped around and decided on this set for form and function. So far no problems. Recommend when it is on sale.Form being that I like the style, and function being the overall quality of the pieces. First, 18/10 is the best anti-rust, and very durable in terms of not being flimsy. Second, the shape of where you hold each piece feels natural in your hand, I like that. Some reviewers did not like the size of the forks/spoons, and noted they weren't balanced quite right. I thought the sizes were fine compared to my parent's set, as for the balance all the sets I've used easily fell off of edges of plates as they described so I don't really know how to judge "correctly balanced".Onto the unnecessarily lengthy part of this review.Thank you to others who left reviews, good and bad I found useful. I also enjoyed reading the one that was really long. Perhaps mine will be the second longest because it is impossible for me to get to the point quickly, hence the bottom line up front in an attempt to help those who do not enjoy reading long reviews.This whole unexpected cutlery journey of mine started at homegoods, where they had a set of nice hammered style flatware at a tempting enough price that I purchased it to think about it. My parents had told me that you do NOT want anything less than 18/8, because it has such a high chance of rusting, bending, and being a bit terrible all around. So I knew to watch out for that, but nowhere on the box did I find any indicator of the content of my newly purchased flatware! Being the skeptic I am, and that I love shopping, I went back to homegoods and read the other boxes on the shelf to get an idea of the average quality of the stock. Everything, and I mean everything, was 18/0. It was funny that some of the packages seemed to brag about it? I suppose that works on folks who aren't aware of the meaning.Seeing what was on the shelf pretty much assured me what I had bought was 18/0 as well, it seems this particular company knew enough to omit that detail on the package since it isn't really required to put it on the product. Needless to say, I returned that set the same day. However it left a bit of a hole, I thought I had finally got my lifetime set of silverware, and now I had returned a set that I had liked quite a bit.Now I HAD to get the right set to replace it, so I went to the largest shopping repository I could think of to find it, the internet. Naturally that lead me to amazon where I went thru pages and pages of stuff, reading reviews, and comparing sets. I like the hammered look as I was going for something that didn't scream "super sleek modern", "I slipped it into my purse from a very fancy restaurant", nor "old-lady aesthetic", you may disagree of course but I get a sort of "rustic yet modern" feel from these.Something I learned from reading, which might be common sense to some, was that anything that has two-tone or a different color on it other than just straight stainless steel means it will eventually wash off/chip/fade and look terrible. Some of those are also not labeled 'dishwasher safe', can you imagine? I don't have time for anything that cannot survive sitting in the sink for a few days at least, I will admit. So anything like that, instantly out of the running.Among other places, I went to Ross-Simon, Etsy, Costco, and looked at sets there. I did buy one other set to compare this one to from Costco. The Napoleon Bee.At this point, I had actually already purchased this hammered set, seeing as it was 20% off and 172$. I bought it after some number of weeks deliberating before I decided to just order it so I could have it in hand to look at. I am glad I did, since it dropped to 10% off not long after. I like to list prices in my reviews for all you deal-hunters out there. I hope you can beat the price I got!Anyway, when the Napoleon Bee set arrived in the mail it was all sorts of wrong compared to this one, firstly, granny-vibe for sure, secondly the shape. This is when I really noticed the difference in holding it vs the hammered one. The shape was completely straight on the Bee set and the sides hardly rounded compare to this one, so it sort of dug into your hand a little.If you are like me, and sometimes use cutlery for not exactly intended use, or you get really into cutting a steak, you may end up gripping it a bit harder than under normal use so this was important when say, evening out the wax on a candle, or getting mad at something when you have flatware in your hand. Next, the forks were enormous in the Bee set. Awful. I believe the hammered set uses "European" sizing for their pieces which is apparently different than whatever the alternative is called. My parents have (what they claim is called) European sized cutlery, so I am used to that sizing and prefer it.After noticing the shaping on the handles of the pieces, I realized that not many sets I looked at even had nicely shaped handles which narrowed down my choices considerably.A few small things to mention here about the hammered set, the 'stamp' or logo on each piece is not what I would consider consistent. Sometimes it looks faded, sometimes off center, sometimes it has the name as well as the logo. I get the suspicion it may also wash off over time. Personally, I do not care.I believe most 18/10 you will find to be rust-resistant if not rust-proof, heavy weight, and unbendable. It doesn't have to be these unless you other things like the style, shape, etc.What remains for me is that I can only hope they don't rust, of course there are reviews about pieces rusting but this doesn't account for all the folks who didn't review because everything was fine causing a skewed perception (fingers crossed on this).The seller has a stand-alone site, but I actually found the deals here to be better at this moment in time.Lastly, once I decided I was going to keep these, I noticed they also have a 10-piece serving set 64% off currently at 89$ (do people really buy it for 250$?). I also ordered that and found it to be just as nice as well. I suppose my only gripe here is I want a meat serving fork too.I'll attempt to edit if I can and add pictures later because it doesn't like my uploads at the moment.

I have a tableware story to share at the end of my review, so too keep from boring those who don’t care to read that, I’ll start with the technical.This set is fabulous. I have zero regrets in choosing it, and while I DO NOT LOVE EVERYTHING about it, it’s the best set on the market for me, based upon the factors of price, availability, function, looks, and feel.A few reviewers have complained they hated the small spoons and small forks. I disagree on the spoons, they are just fine. I agree on the small forks, but with a caveat – what occasions will you prefer a small fork to a large one? For me, it’s always for desserts alone, or any time I want to eat slowly on something decadent and calorie dense. In this regard, the micro-fork is adequate to the task, and in some ways, better than I would have chosen for myself. This set is super heavy duty. Check out my very detailed photos and measurements. Weigh your current set and compare the weights I have shown here. I think you’ll agree, this set is beyond the quality you will use even at the finest restaurants, where they have chosen tableware nicer than is found in most modern homes. BONUS: I was not expecting to see the hammered finish on the backs of every piece, just the knives. This makes the set even more beautiful and comfortable to hold. I was very pleasantly surprised.Now, on to my story…My parents were baby boomers, both now departed before their time. Their first set of tableware was US Navy surplus. Amazingly strong but very plain. Their second set was garbage, a thin 60’s style that bent and was uncomfortable to hold. The set had narrow handles, like wayyyyy too narrow. You could use the handle end of any spoon or fork and stab it through your hand if you weren’t careful. Something like the micro men’s ties that were also popular at the time. Less is not always more. Anyway, after realizing the mistake and being more financially secure, my mother opted for this elegant but rather lightweight dot-border set you see in my photos. I grew up with this set, it was around since I was a baby. A few of the spoons and forks were retained from that awful 60’s set, so I had them to compare and appreciated we had this much nicer set to use. It was 8 dinner forks, 8 dessert forks, 8 knives, 8 table spoons, 16 teaspoons, and 8 long-handled drink spoons. That last one still amazes me, it’s perhaps a ‘70s thing long since forgotten. I don’t have occasion to stir sugar into my tall drinks, but do find these useful for the tall yogurt containers when it’s down to the last little bit, or those sauce jars where you don’t want to mess your fingers as you fight for the last little remnants. As this set was not restaurant grade heavy duty by any means, my mother augmented the collection by purchasing a couple of open stock VERY heavy forks, to mash tuna, egg salad, and other kitchen prep tasks that required more strength than the main set could provide. I’ve kept those and collected a motley crew of other forks over the years, to make sure there are enough between dishwasher loads. I don’t like mismatched sets of tableware, and have endured this scourge of outlier dinner forks for years.In the 80’s, my mother realized she always wanted floral tableware, and had denied herself the pleasure in a household of otherwise all male persons. My brother had already gone off to university by this time, I thought the new set was a bad move, but it was not my decision to make. The floral pattern had a pointy tip at the end of all the fork/spoon handles, and the dessert forks had an ornate single tine on the right side that always made them look like decorative pitchforks to me. I asked and was granted custody of this outgoing set, and have used it up until this week, a full 35 years plus those early years growing up. This set has been in my life for all my 47 years. I wasn’t going to part with it on a whim. Only one of the teaspoons got destroyed in the sink disposer (it was probably my fault as a kid), and not a single piece was ever lost. These even traveled to the Netherlands and back, for my 5 years living there. That’s dedication.After years of observing what I like and don’t, my criteria for a proper set is this: Smooth on front, edges, and back, no pointy handle ends, heavy weight, no oddball shapes for any pieces, no florals, nothing gold, nothing with inlays or satin finishes, nothing “historic” looking. I love modern, functional, and aesthetically pleasing tableware. Why did I need new tableware after so many years of service from my current set? Simply this: I’ve changed the way I eat. I do not eat at restaurants unless I travel or am dragged off to one. I’m a home chef, vegetarian, and recently extremely health conscious. I eat 6 smaller meals a day now instead of, as in my youth, gluttonizing at a buffet once a day, sitting around in pain and distress for 90 minutes afterward. In college, I ate stupid amounts of pizza buffets. Then I moved to Las Vegas for 10 years and indulged constantly at every buffet in town. At my worst, I weighed 288lbs. I now weigh 175. I eat Greek yogurt at least once a day, sometimes twice. I go through a lot of spoons in a week… too many spoons for my old set to keep up. I hate conserving spoons, rinsing them off and setting them on the counter to use again and again and again. That got old.Summary: this set is everything I have always wanted and did not think to take the time to find. My journey began 2 days ago at that coupon obsessed shop that *rhymes with bowls*, pouring over all their patterns thinking about chasing a deal. Then I noticed with a quick search of the Oneida Icarus pattern (the only one they had that met all my basic criteria, but was sadly quite plain and boring to behold), that even with all the discounts games I could muster, it was still cheaper both on Amazon and across the street at BB&B. That had me researching more deeply, the metals used in modern tableware – and I decided I must have 18/8 or 18/10, thick, smooth, and hammered!!! Yes, hammered was the art on a spoon I’d been missing in my life. I love scales and how they look, reptiles are a big part of my life. Hammered reminds me of snake skin, and I love that. It’s art, and I love it. In the end, I bought a 24 piece set, 3 full boxes of 40, for 30% less than I was going to pay at that quasi-department store for a style I didn’t even like that much. And I certainly wasn’t going to bother shopping at high end department stores, I didn’t need to blow a grand on tableware that looks like it was chosen by my grandmother.Epilogue (and details about my photos): The US Navy surplus spoon is a classic egg shape bowl, as is my dot edge set. The DANIALLI set has a modern oval for both spoon sizes, and both spoons are notably longer than typical sets, especially the tablespoon. The 8 inch length of the tablespoon replaces the need for the long lost long handled drink spoons from my 70’s set. Weight on all pieces is over double my current set, and none but the knife blades or tiny forks could be bent with normal effort, by a normal hand without tools or leverage being employed. Simply put, you won’t accidentally bend any of these pieces, as was common with my old set. If you want to put a lot of force down on a fork to mash something like nuts or canned tuna, it won’t deform. I like that a lot. If you’re eating angry, you won’t bend a spoon, but you might break a bowl.

Love the weight and comfort of this flatware. As long as you use a rinse aid (I use Jet Dry) in your dishwasher, you won't have any water spots. 18/10 is real quality stainless steel and it shows. It's so shiny which I love. I purchased service for 16.

Great feel, weight & size. Well made. Couldn’t be better.

Look and feel are excellent 👍

Beautiful, good weight, not cheap.

I give this gorgeous and functional set 10 stars! I was unsure about buying new flatware on line because I am a chef, foodie, and have some OCD when it comes to eating instruments. This set features modern design to match my organic shaped plating sets, is nice and heavy, ergonomic, and a really nice sheen -- not like chrome but more like brushed nickel. The size is right on. Very durable with heft for input while eating. I am shocked this set was priced so well. And several runs through the dishwaster have my new friends looking still new!

We returned this set because the fork tines are too blunt. It’s hard to give this product four start instead of five because they seem like such good quality. But the broad blunt tines crush food instead of stabbing it, which I consider a design flaw. I’ve included a photo of a fork with slim tines compared to the broad tines of this fork. It’s a little hard to see in the photos, but is very obvious in person.