What`s on your table?

Homegrown bone china tableware companies don't quite cut the ice. And it's alright to take out your grandmother's Royal Doulton, but do you have the full set?

If not, well, hide it away as a souvenir, but don't dare serve the soup in yet. Instead, here's what you might want to consider if you're in the market for some great looking (and costing) crockery.

The mood is Versace

Haute couture was never trendier than its marriage with the 128-year-old porcelain and tableware brand Rosenthal, which opened an exclusive outlet recently in Gurgaon's Ambi Mall. Within the year, the luxury brand will extend its footprint to Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi.

Rosenthal's pick of dinner services is fashion designer Gianni Versace's "Mythos" line, where a profusion of colours spray across the porcelain, creating more drama on your dinner plate than mere food can hope to achieve.

Created in 1993 and available across porcelain sets, glassware and cutlery, its strong appeal lies in its universal recognisability. Even the Medusa collection within the range, which is all white, is a stunner.

Rosenthal's other picks are the classic and the originals, all of which are available in India at prices that some might balk at, but which will do more than adorn your dining table: they will make you the host with the most faster than you can snap your fingers. (www.rosenthal.de).

Dine on collectibles

When it comes to heirlooms, you could hardly do better than French Limoges, where the prices of those pieces that are auctioned or sold command premium prices.

But you can buy a complete set of French Limoges fine porcelain dinner service, complete with crystal stemware, at the House of Raro (stores in Delhi and Mumbai) where collections are unveiled on occasion.

The current hot favourite appears to be its Eden Turquoise Collection, delicately rimmed in blue and laced with gold. Expensive