280550 Fri Oct 28 15:44:41 -0700 2005 7 31 Home Cooking 0 1490805 From the info gleaned from the recent dinnerware discussion, I am shopping around for a new set of bone china and have found vast discrepancies in prices. I admit to general ignorance on bone china quality (though I've googled some education), but what accounts for such price differences, other than name brand markup? Should I be on the lookout for bone ash content? Glazing technique? Multiple step processes? Anything else? I am only considering simple white patterns -- no inlays, no color details nor any texture details. Plain white. So unless someone can come up with a great reason not to, I am going with an inexpensive bone china set I've found online. Fri Oct 28 15:44:41 -0700 2005 0 Pupster 1 1490806 I have a dozen "no -name" plain white bone china dinner plates that I picked up at a Royal Doulton outlet store. They may be RD, but seconds and were never decorated. I looked them over very carefully selecting what I thought were the best, looking for tiny pits in the glaze and scratches. Bone China is bone china. The price goes up of course with first quality as opposed to sedonds and decoration. The decoration can be platinum or 22kt. gold then most patterns are actually applied as decals but there is some hand application like the enameling that is done on someting like Lenox's Autumn or Minton Ancestral with all of the cobalt and gold. But I digress. Look it over, try to buy open stock so if you break a piece you can replace it, and enjoy it. Everyone needs some plain white bone china in thier collection. Fri Oct 28 15:58:30 -0700 2005 1490805 0 Candy 2 1490843 On a related matter, I got fantastic crystal wine glasses with Platinum rims at a Lenox outlet near me. Same thing, I picked the "best" 12 I could find. I agree that if you pick a simple design, it's a classic choice for tabletop! Fri Oct 28 19:29:09 -0700 2005 1490806 0 Aimee 3 1490849 Be careful with those platinum rims and never ever put them in the dishwasher even if you are using Cascade with "Shineshield" it is hell on the rims. Outlets are the way to go, and really check stuff over well. They are great becuase you do have the opportunity to check through a big quantity and select the best. Fri Oct 28 20:00:07 -0700 2005 1490843 0 Candy 1 1490810 Where did you the inexpensive bone china? I too am looking to replace my dinnerware and am looking for plain white bone china. TIA Fri Oct 28 16:21:37 -0700 2005 1490805 0 annie 1 1490931 Personnally I prefer using plain white dinner or charger white china plates...never selected a whole set of dishes, that way I can use all sorts of other salad/dessert/bowls/serving dishes; and for serving coffee, I set up a tray with a collection of mugs or for tea I have a Japanese collection of tea cups/mugs that can be water glasses/wine/cocktail/ or tea. Sat Oct 29 17:14:16 -0700 2005 1490805 0 SueYoung/LA 1 1490999 Bone china does contain bone ash for strength which allows the molded pieces to be very thin--hence the prized transluscence of the china. The heat to which the clay is fired also bears on the strength--the sand or silica content of the clay body vitrifies at higher heats (becomes glasslike), which adds strength to the fired clay piece. Is there a reason you want bone china over porcelain? Plain white porcelain from Japan used to be easy to find in Asian import shops (the old and much-lamented pre-corporate REAL 'Cost Plus' stores). Now mainland China is making some very nice plain white porcelain. A wholesale distributor is Maryland Fine China. Many restaurant supply houses would carry good quality porcelain at decent prices. Look for some in your area. Sun Oct 30 13:35:47 -0800 2005 1490805 0 toodie jane 2 1491022 The color difference is why one would go for bone china over porcelain. Porcelain has a greyish cast to it and none of that creamy white translucence that makes bone china so beautiful. Sun Oct 30 16:46:24 -0800 2005 1490999 0 MZG