The Lenox casual china is manufactured in Indonesia also. The fine china is made in North Carolina.

I have just ordered a place setting of Lenox Poppy Street Linen to see if I like it which is in the casual line.

I actually don't know how to tell china quality. Maybe I should find out what matters, such as is it lead free? How it holds up to normal use, does it get a lot of marks on it from silverware, how it holds up to washing over the years, etc.

I just live-chattted with Lenox and asked if the china is lead free and they didn't exactly answer. They sent a statement about how it's of high quality and is tested and inspected and safe to use. I asked if there is a difference in materials or in the fine china vs. the casual china and they said they do not have that information.

I'm sorry this isn't specifically what you were asking, but your question made me realize I don't really understand how china is made and what I should be looking for as far as quality goes.

I have Royal Doulton dinner sets, they are 30 years old and say right on them Made In England as part of their backstamp.

In 2009 Royal Doulton, Wedgwood and Waterford Crystal were formed into a single company WWRD Holdings and it was at that time that a large part of the manufacturing was moved out of England. The plates will no longer give a country of origin but may say something like Wedgwood England which some have said is misleading.

However, The dishes that you are looking at appear to have been discontinued in 2010, hence the cheap price, so my advise is to go and look at the backstamp and see what it says. Dishes made prior to 2009 were probably made in England.

I just went through this process of replacing dishes. As I type I have dishes all over my DR table. I was looking to add plates to my good china, my Royal Doulton. I didn't need whole sets, just the plates, family dinners are getting too large for my set of twelve. I wound up buying 2 different colours of blue Fiesta to complement my dishes which have a blue border. Fiesta is made in the US (still), is china and is lead free and you can buy individual pieces.

I also wanted to replace my Pflatzgraff daily dishes because they were just old, chipped and some have broken. Now, my set were made in the US which is no longer the case. They are now made in China and from my research are not of the same quality. I wound up buying Corelle dishes. Interestingly, when I opened my sets of Corelle, the plates and bowls were stamped made in the US but the mugs were stamped Made in China.

I have tried in the past to google differences in quality wrt to the china or bone china itself and can't find anything. The only thing I have found is wrt anything lead free and that pertains to the glazing found on some dishes.

I don't know if any of this helps or not. Replacing my daily dishes and finding ones to complement my good china has taken me two very frustrating years and countless hours on the internet. My DH is glad the decisions have been made..

(Please I have nothing against products made in China. It was just that because the products I needed were made in the US I chose to do so. - Hey, I'm Canadian)

blfenton, I assume you're aware of Replacements Ltd?

Here is a link that might be useful: Replacement china and silver

Yes, thanks sjhockeyfan (san jose hockey fan by an chance?) One of the many options I checked. But trying to figure out if these kinds of sites would ship stuff across the border, realizing that shipping was really expensive crossing the border and then deciding I didn't want to add to my good china but wanted something to complement it instead, steered me into buying new.

Like I said - a two year frustrating hunt. :)

nosoccermom posted this on the other dinner dish thread. I hope she doesn't mind if I post it here as well.

It is an article that talks about lead/cadmium in dishes and the problems of it leaching.

Here is a link that might be useful: leaching lead/cadmium from dishes

I went back to BB&B today and took a closer look at the dishes. The open stock items in this pattern clearly say "Made in England" on the back so it's indeed the good stuff, but the bad news is the place settings - upon closer inspection, the boxes have all either been opened before and then re-taped (probably returns I'm guessing), or the packaging is banged up, which is worrying for something as delicate as dinnerware. I thought about opening the packaging and inspecting the contents myself while in the store, but then I stopped and thought twice about whether or not I still had an intention to buy it, and ultimately decided to just walk away for the time being and reconsider my options...

I then took a quick look at Fiestaware, but all that did was reconfirm that I really don't like stoneware - it's bulky, heavy, nowhere near as elegant as porcelain or china, and I've heard that it's very susceptible to getting crazing lines from knives.

That said, I'm back to square one again - does anybody have suggestions for quality dinnerware at everyday prices that doesn't need to be babied (namely dishwasher and microwave-safe, preferably oven-safe on top of that)? I can wait as long as it takes, so if there's something that often goes on sale or alternatively a store that has really great deals from time to time, those would be great to know as well.

I recently replaced my broken, chipped Pfatzgraff with new. I wanted white, that would match whatever serving pieces I decided to use, I preferred Made in USA, and I really wanted something that would not get those grey cutlery marks.
There were several threads on durable everyday dishes around at the time and in the year before my search- I found and read them all and decided to go with bone china.
I ended up with Lenox- Tin Can Alley. It wasnt cheap but I watched for sales (for quite a while) and it didnt break the bank. I got 10 place setting for about $300. I did find my 'ultimate' sale @ Macy's right before Thanksgiving, I wonder if that is significant?
Here are some of the older threads(I only know how to include a working link to one you can cut and paste the rest):

Everyday dishes- china v porcelain
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CFAQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fths.gardenweb.com%2Fforums%2Fload%2Fdecor%2Fmsg0908323229420.html&ei=M8Z9U4PNAcjPsATjqoGYCA&usg=AFQjCNGcsmtlt-fE5yYSp8XHRA4fe_vItg&sig2=8U_EZajadN53PfHO28H9LQ&bvm=bv.67229260,d.cWc

No grey cutlery marks
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CFcQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fths.gardenweb.com%2Fforums%2Fload%2Fkitchbath%2Fmsg101338347988.html&ei=M8Z9U4PNAcjPsATjqoGYCA&usg=AFQjCNGjWTlHZA0ImYl2Q0szxc22qIQteg&sig2=nM7nJdosQD8-2r8xTqkXRw&bvm=bv.67229260,d.cWc

Sturdy White Dishes
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CF4QFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fths.gardenweb.com%2Fforums%2Fload%2Fdecor%2Fmsg1208050129035.html&ei=M8Z9U4PNAcjPsATjqoGYCA&usg=AFQjCNGq_okyKBxhfXRpxZGWrlBeJkzScg&sig2=LczRb1R8ujX_4rM6ofGF6Q&bvm=bv.67229260,d.cWc

Here is a link that might be useful: Everyday Dishes - porcelain,china or corelle

Raident- one nice thing about B3 is you can't return without an issue.
Sounds like a good deal if enough quantity is available.

Blfenton - if you live near the border, you can ship to a pack-n-ship and pick up on the US side. You just declare at the border and might need to pay duty.
I learned about this option while I was in SSM ontario and my cross country ski boots died and I needed replacements ASAP. In my case, I am not Canadian, so only had to pay the bridge trolls but my Canadian colleagues use the service all of the time (and do declare items)

Just to clarify, not trying to persuade you raident because I know what a personal journey trying to choose dishes can be!, but Fiesta is vitrified china and not stoneware. The difference, I think, is in the stages and temperature of firing the types of clay and materials used.

a2gemini - did you mean to say that you *can* return without an issue rather than you *can't*?

I stand corrected on Fiesta - it just seemed like stoneware at a glance. I do wonder why they make it so thick and heavy though, because most of the china dishes I've seen are extremely thin.

Bf yup. Hate that predictive text!