Review: Oneida flatware made in Korea
I was disturbed to read a couple years ago that Oneida Ltd. -- you know, the
124 year old flatware company -- was closing its main plant in the U.S.
and outsourcing to Asia (as it turns out, Korea, not China). The story gets
more complicated; specifically, two former Oneida executives formed a new company, bought the plant, and reopened it, continuing to manufacture flatware... for Oneida. Anyway, that's not the point of this entry.
Being a fan of the Michelangelo pattern (IMO, the best stainless steel flatware available on the open market), I decided to take advantage of a sale and purchase more pieces. This gave me an opportunity to directly compare the U.S.- and Korean-made pieces side by side.
The new place settings I received all looked good. Compared with the old pieces, there are the same weight, and show the same level of detail and depth in the pattern. They are good quality pieces.
Unfortunately, it takes a turn for the worse with the serving pieces. The depth and detail of the pattern is quite poor on some pieces -- some of the leaves and flowers almost blend into the handle. Worse, it's not even consistent; each piece shows a different level of detail. Worse yet, a few of the pieces show a deformed ridge around the pattern -- which is definitely not part of the pattern -- at the bowl/tine end, as if the pattern was stamped with a partial mold and not cleaned up properly.
95% of readers will guess what's coming. Yup, all the place setting pieces are stamped "USA" on the handle. The malformed serving pieces are all marked (seems like it's laser-etched, not stamped) "Korea 4 6".
Now, Oneida customer service has agreed to send me hand-inspected replacements. I'm not going to hold my breath, though.
Being a fan of the Michelangelo pattern (IMO, the best stainless steel flatware available on the open market), I decided to take advantage of a sale and purchase more pieces. This gave me an opportunity to directly compare the U.S.- and Korean-made pieces side by side.
The new place settings I received all looked good. Compared with the old pieces, there are the same weight, and show the same level of detail and depth in the pattern. They are good quality pieces.
Unfortunately, it takes a turn for the worse with the serving pieces. The depth and detail of the pattern is quite poor on some pieces -- some of the leaves and flowers almost blend into the handle. Worse, it's not even consistent; each piece shows a different level of detail. Worse yet, a few of the pieces show a deformed ridge around the pattern -- which is definitely not part of the pattern -- at the bowl/tine end, as if the pattern was stamped with a partial mold and not cleaned up properly.
95% of readers will guess what's coming. Yup, all the place setting pieces are stamped "USA" on the handle. The malformed serving pieces are all marked (seems like it's laser-etched, not stamped) "Korea 4 6".
Now, Oneida customer service has agreed to send me hand-inspected replacements. I'm not going to hold my breath, though.