Berndorf cutlery in sterling 925 - from Menuett to Premiere

In the 19th century the Austrian

enterprise delivered to the Austria-Hungarian imperial court and the Berndorf Metallwarenfabrik Arthur Krupp received the title of a K.u.K. purveyor to the court. With the background of the impressive history of the brand from Berndorf both pattern Menuett and Premiere have been incessantly produced for over 100 years.

The great success of these historical

patterns is based on the special design, the pleasant haptics and the good processing. The traditional model Menuett is a classical Chippendale pattern which differs in many small affectionate details from the big number of his competitors. Different table- and dinner-dimensions as well as all serving parts and knives, spoons and forks for children are available for this pattern. And without Vienna Secession the unusual design of the flatware premiere wouldn't be possible, an example of the geometrical Jugendstil, a design which at the beginning of the 20th century was produced similarly by different silver manufactures. The slender, elegant appearance of this pattern lets this design be consistently successful without any ageing phenomena. Today the models in sterling of Berndorf of Austria are produced exclusively in Germany, on the original tools of the treasure of Berndorf. A Berndorf cutlery in sterling silver, no matter which model, is a true piece of Vienna history.

sterling silver

Silver is the first metal of which cutleries were made of and the material has the reputation to possess bactericidal qualities. A sterling cutlery of massive silver is even after decades an object of great value. Depending on the execution real silver objects are not made out of pure silver, but material silver (Ag) are mixed with copper (Cu). The proportionate mass of this alloy is specified in thousandth. So the 800th silver contains 80% of silver and 20% of copper, the 925th silver – also called sterling silver – 7.5% of copper and so on. Therefore, the color of the silver also differs slightly, depending to the percentage of copper in the alloy. Mainly for optical reasons massive silver is galvanized often with a layer of pure silver. Silver is marked with the punch which refers to the punch law of the country of origin. In Germany the imperial crown and the half moon has to be beside the brand of the manufacturer together with the thousandth number as a token for the real silver. In France, however, the head of Minerva in an octagon beside the punch of the manufacture is the juridically correct sign.

Hallmark Germany