Noritake Fine China, Brently Pattern By GlenT on Jan 02, 2009 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

China is one of those luxury items that always comes with marriage or a lotto win, or some such stroke of fortune. This purchase was in celebration of a business success ( I paid off the house ) and the dinner party to mark the milestone. While I felt sort of out of place in the Macy's fine china department, it was a matter of walking down the display of settings and spying this pattern. It was perfect. On a creamy base, the heavy, slightly raised pattern of burgundy roses and reddish gold trim looks elegant and not too frilly. Paired with a set of gold plate and some wine and water glasses I've gathered from antique stores, the setting is as elegant as you could want. Brass chargers under the plates kick it up to an even more formal level.

I got a service for twelve that includes 10 ½" dinner plates, salad plates, soup bowls, cups and saucers and a four-piece serving set (bowl, platter, sugar and creamer). As strong as they are (and as all thumbs as I am) they have all survived chip-free. This is a good thing, as each dinner plate goes for almost $30 at those online replacement sites. The pattern is not rare, either, just in case I need a replacement piece. I typed "Noritake Brently" into Google and it popped right up.

It seems like I got a good deal on a popular set of china. For about twenty years this set has served me well. How many other investments in this dollar range will do the same?