The flatware to own for life.

Liberty Tabletop is the retail name of Sherrill Manufacturing, which makes its flatware in Sherrill, New York, in the old Oneida plant. The company says it is the only stainless flatware manufacturer left in the United States, and it uses 18/10 steel melted by American mills.

Pearl is a classic teardrop shape with a beaded edge, sized in the larger Euro style, and a place setting weighs about 9 ounces. There are several other patterns, from the plain Modern America to the embossed Honey Bee. Every one is sold open stock, so replacements and serving pieces are a click away, and the warranty runs 25 years against manufacturing defects.

Skip it if you want a solid one-piece knife in every pattern. Pearl's dinner knife is hollow handled with a serrated blade, which is traditional and comfortable but not what some people expect at this weight. Check the knife options on the pattern you like.

Mepra was founded in 1947 by the Prandelli family in Lumezzane, near Brescia, and was the first factory in that valley to make 18/10 stainless flatware. It still makes its flatware there, and it supplies hotels and restaurants as well as homes.

Linea is the quiet one: a flat, straight handle with softly rounded ends, no decoration. The mirror finish is the classic; there are also brushed Ice and colored PVD finishes in gold and gunmetal. It goes in the dishwasher, though Mepra asks you to avoid abrasive detergents and scrub pads.

Skip the PVD colored finishes if you want flatware you never think about. They are durable, but a bright gold fork shows every scratch that plain steel would hide, and it is harder to match later.

Villeroy & Boch has made porcelain, glass and flatware since 1748, and La Coupole is one of its longest-running patterns: a plain, gently tapered handle in high-gloss 18/10 stainless that sits well beside both classic and modern plates.

The set is five pieces for eight people: dinner fork, salad fork, dinner knife, soup spoon and teaspoon. The dinner knife is just under 10 inches and the pieces have a reassuring weight without being heavy. Buying the full service at once is the cheapest way to a matched table for a dinner party.

Skip it if you want to buy one place setting at a time or add serving pieces later from open stock. Liberty Tabletop and Mepra are better for that. Open the dishwasher door at the end of the cycle to avoid water spots.

Sabre assembles almost all of its cutlery by hand in a workshop outside Paris, with blades of European stainless and acrylic handles colored all the way through. Bistrot is the pattern that made it known: a rounded handle held on with three visible rivets, sold in dozens of solid colors, tortoise and pearly finishes.

It is the most fun set here and it makes a plain white table look deliberate. It is also sold open stock, both through Sabre's US store and in individual pieces, so you can replace a lost fork or add a color.

Skip it if you run your dishwasher hot. Sabre asks for 45°C (113°F) maximum, which is below the normal cycle on most American machines. Hand washing or an eco cycle is the price of the look.

Fortessa supplies dinnerware, glassware and flatware to restaurants and hotels, which is a useful recommendation for anything that has to survive daily washing. Lucca is 18/10 stainless with a traditional shape and a clean, sculpted handle in a bright polish.

Each place setting is a table fork, a salad or dessert fork, a table knife, a dessert or soup spoon and a teaspoon, and it is sold by the setting, so you can buy exactly as many as your table seats and add more later.

Skip it if you want something that feels like an heirloom. Lucca is handsome and durable, but it is designed to be used hard rather than admired, and the polish shows fingerprints.