Guest Posted December 10, 2001 Report Share Posted December 10, 2001 I am looking to buy thai bronze silverware and would like to clear up something. Ok, you go into a souvenier shop and can buy each piece for about 50 baht. You go into a jewelry store and it is 300 baht per piece. I want to understand what difference (if any) there is between the two. A few things that I wonder about is whether the jewelry stores are actually brass or the souvie shops are just bronze plated. I seem to get biased responses from the businesses. Anyone have an idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted December 10, 2001 Report Share Posted December 10, 2001 In general, you get what you pay for. I bought some basic flatware a few years back, and the guy pulled the old switch-a-roo! I would say, go to a reputable dealer, and bargin hard! Ploenchit center, bottom floor had some great deals on full sets. Weekend market is another great place for selection and prices. As you are looking for bronze, and you had questions on plated verses solid, try the bend test. Bronze is a fairly hard metel, if it bends easily, good chance it is a plated metel. If it appears strong, it may be solid. Another test is weight. compare the weight of one piece verses the weight of the same piece from a different set. Solid bronze should weigh more than a plated counterpart, depending what materials are used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 10, 2001 Report Share Posted December 10, 2001 Old hippie-- Though you could apprecite this... I got a whole (5 settings) bunch of United flatware back when UAL closed the flight kitchen at PDX.. Saw a small notice about a sale in the local paper and went.. Got great pricing on the whole deal.. Around US$55 for the whole 5 sets and 5 of those small salt/pepper shakers to boot! The TG's have already stolen these salt/pepper shakers from me!!! --UPSer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 10, 2001 Report Share Posted December 10, 2001 One thing to add to hippies comments, check for a '925' mark stamped on it. If its not there, don't touch it, if it is, it 'Should' be silver, if in a bona fide shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted December 10, 2001 Report Share Posted December 10, 2001 UPSer, Yeah, I scored a set of dishes when they changed patterns. Broke most of them! Have a few Eastern and Continental items as well. I hear Pan Am stuff is worth a few bucks. Sad to think of all the great carriers who went down... Seasider, Good point about silver! I think he was interested in Bronze though. Any ideas on how to tell if it is pure bronze? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 10, 2001 Report Share Posted December 10, 2001 A full, boxed set, wooden handles with the serving spoons etc... should cost around 5000B, obviously if you want mother of pearl handles the price will be higher. The weekend market is a good place to get them, they have a huge selection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 10, 2001 Report Share Posted December 10, 2001 Sorry Hippie, should learn to read shouln't I! Don't know a lot about bronze except its a hell of a lot heavier than brass, as it is usually cast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 13, 2001 Report Share Posted December 13, 2001 Ok, here is what I have found out: -get bronze silverware, not brass. brass is for show, not for eating because it is poisonous. -bronze silver should have some percentage of nickel, otherwise it will be too brittle. -bronze will need cleaning every few months unless it is used frequently. Many thai's are turning to stainless steel for this reason. I found stuff I liked at a very unusual place. I was looking inside the many jewelry/bronze shops on chareongrung in the bangrak area of Bangkok. Silverware was looking much the same from place to place. At one point I came to a building that looked like a temple that was neglected for 50 years called Thai Home Industries. The inside looked like it was collecting dust just as long and was dominated by heaps of dusty wicker baskets. At the very end of the dusty wooden shelves lit only by dim skylights was a 70 year old lady at a desk. My first instinct was to swivel around and leave, but I decided to stroll through to show good form. To my surprise, they had the finest bronzeware I have seen. It seemed to have more of an orange glow and many styles were distinct, unlike what you see elsewhere in the city. The stuff was heavy guage and hand hammered at costs of about 150 baht a piece. The catch: they are sold out until new year! But I will wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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