Excellent 65-Piece Flatware Set
This is a really nice flatware set. I didn't know much about flatware prior to purchasing this set. But I did enough research beforehand to know my criteria:- Must be 18/10 stainless steel. 18% chromium is pretty standard. The "10" is important as that's the nickel percentage contained in the alloy. Nickel provides corrosion resistance and durability.- Not cost too much. For a 65-piece set, I didn't want to spend over $150. This set came in at around half the price during the Black Friday sale. Even the regular price for this set is a great deal.As far as design, I like the understated curves. It adds some class without being too ornate or too plain.Negative:- Mikasa has to do a better job packaging the flatware. They did a great job wrapping each item in its own paper cover. The issue is that the flatware set was positioned head-to-head. This caused some of the flatware pieces to scratch the other set of flatware in the same box. For background, there are 2 sets of flatware types in each box. Therefore, if the forks were placed with the spoons, the top fork in the stack facing the top spoon in the stack would damage the finish on the spoon. From what I can tell, if the set of items were placed head-to-toe (e.g. spoon head to fork end) the damage would have been reduced or eliminated.- Half the knives were not properly buffed to a complete shine. There were some etchings in more than half the knives. There has to be better quality control with the knives. Customers expect new knives to look like new knives.Overall, the entire set is really nice. Even with the negatives listed. This is a quality flatware set that has a good amount of heft and balance to them. And they're heavy! My dish washer's door compartment for flatware has never been heavier than washing all these items at once.Note: The knives are long. In the picture, I had to separate the knives into two piles on either side of the spoons and forks. They would not fit in the compartment containing the spoon and forks. If you're interested in the tray I'm using for this set, just search for "Extra Large Expandable Silverware Organizer".Potential Helpful Hint:I've run through several washing cycles since I purchasing this flatware set. I think a lot of the issues with the knives rusting that others have mention may be due to the knives being made of a different alloy (13/0?) than the rest of the flatware set. Usually, the alloy is lower in nickel content to keep a sharper edge. This is common with most flatware, not just Mikasa.To mitigate against rust, it may help to use a wash cycle that actually dries the load fully instead of the eco mode on some dish washers. What drying via a standard heat cycle does is eliminate most of the water, which may cause rust if the knives are left wet in the dish washer for a prolonged duration.