Cutlery - stainless steel vs silver plated

[BellesAndGraces]

I’m in the market for new cutlery and can’t decide between stainless steel and silver plated. This would be for everyday use but I don’t really believe in keeping things “for best”. Any thoughts?

Ive never had silver plated and obviously can’t afford silver!

We have both but tend to use the silver-plated for 'high days and holidays.'

They look lovely but...
Silver plate will tarnish and need polishing. The more frequently you use them, the more often you will have to polish and the sooner the plate will wear!

I would say, spend your cash on the best quality stainless steel you can afford.

My only issue with stainless steel is it looks very modern and tends to be lightweight. I quite like the heavier and more ornate look that you tend to get with secondhand silver plated. DH couldn’t give a flying monkey’s arse about cutlery so thought I’d bore everyone here with my question!

I have both, I must confess the silver plate hasn't been out of the canteen for years. It used to come out at Christmas and took hours to wash and dry. Stainless you can just chuck in the dishwasher.

I use our stainless set every day. It is as heavy as silver, in a traditional bead pattern, and larger than contemporary cutlery. I think it's Arthur Housley of Sheffield but not sure they still exist. We bought ours from House of Fraser in the 80s.

Very good quality or old stainless steel cutlery. I’ve got viners which was £100 for the canteen 20 years ago!

MIL has silver, I don't like it because it tastes different to stainless steel. Plus the work of polishing and washing seems like too much work.

Stainless as silver tarnishes and tastes horrible.

Sorry just checked, it's H. Housley, I mixed it up with Arthur Price. I think Housley's cutlery has been made overseas in recent years anyway, not Sheffield.

Not all stainless steel cutlery looks modern! We chose Amefa as the brand and then one of their modern perfectly balanced weight wise ranges. They have ornate patterns too.... Villeroy & Boch also do a wide range of cutlery and we had some of the more traditional style in one of our restaurants (yes it washes and wears really well!)

You haven't mentioned your budget OP - but if you are considering silver-plate it won't be small!

This stainless steel set (8 place settings) are in a traditional (but not fussy) pattern, Grecian - the same as our 34 year old silver plate setting.
https://www.johnlewis.com/arthur-price-grecian-stainless-steel-cutlery-set-56-piece-8-place-settings/p3270856

High quality stainless steel is not light

We use silver. We use it daily. It does need to be polished often but I have it down to a fine art now

Ours has been in the family since the 80’s so it’s nice to keep using it.

Scroll down to the 5mm ranges:
https://www.robertwelch.com/collections/cutlery-sets

We have Robert Welch, nice heavy weight... bought a full set plus extra bits from John Lewis before we got married 25 years ago. It is still going strong. AND you can still buy the same pattern in John Lewis now.

Agree with this ^^ stainless steel all the way

Also silver a pain and doesn't taste great

We’ve got Arthur Price silver plate and it’s almost never used because of the polishing faff!

We have a lovely set of Laguiole stainless steel that are all one piece with the bee embossed into the handles of the cutlery….we got them in France though and I can’t find them here. They are really weighty and look great.

The other stuff we have is Robert Welch. Really lovely, nicely weighted and in very classic designs. We got them in John Lewis as well.

Silver plate can't go in the dishwasher....well it can, but the plate will wear off, and then you will either need to get it replated (not worth the expense) or replace it.
Good quality Stainless steel will last for years, and is much easier to look after.

I have Robert Welch stainless steel and it feels satisfyingly heavy.

Same- although 20 years for us. I bought some more a few weeks ago and can hardly tell the new from the 20 year old stuff.

We've got Sophie Conran Rivelin. Stainless, every day, nice quality.

Stainless, but then I'm a Sheffield lass!
Fwiw, my cutlery is an Arthur Price set.

I have some silver cutlery - wedding present from 30 years ago - but for day to say I would go for the best quality stainless steel - there are lots of different designs . I'm going to buy some new stainless steel cutlery so interested to hear recommendations.

We have silver plated. We wash cutlery by hand now as if yput it in the dishwasher it tarnishes very quickly.

Robert Welch here. Almost 20 years old. You wouldn't know.

I didn't pick well. My design got discontinued!

We've got Wedgewood stainless steel, 25 years old, used weekly, nicely weighted and still as good as new.

If I was buying now with healthy budget I'd get David Mellor cutlery. You can get vintage silver plate or stainless steel.