GRACING THE TABLE
It's those special moments that life is all about. Villeroy & Boch has been adding a decorative touch to its customers' day-to-day lives with top-quality, stylish ceramic products since 1748.
It's those special moments that life is all about. Villeroy & Boch has been adding a decorative touch to its customers' day-to-day lives with topquality, stylish ceramic products since 1748.
It's those special moments that life is all about. Villeroy & Boch has been adding a decorative touch to its customers' day-to-day lives with top-quality, stylish ceramic products since 1748. The 273-year history of Villeroy & Boch all began with a deep, shared passion for exquisite porcelain, artistic design and a luxurious lifestyle. In 1836, Nicolas Villeroy and Jean-François Boch signed a contract committing to work together to produce the highest quality porcelain in the world. Their signatures sealed a desire to make their mutual vision become reality. The union also resulted in Villeroy's daughter Octavie and Boch's son Eugen falling in love and marrying – bringing the two families even closer together and marking the beginning of an amazing success story. Their love for exquisite tableware continues to live on today within the Villeroy & Boch brand, which can be found in the world's finest hotels and restaurants, including The Peninsula Hotels. Leading international establishments use the company's elegant tableware, hand-blown glasses, exquisite cutlery and high-quality accessories to showcase their individual style and exclusivity.
Villeroy & Boch's Dining & Lifestyle Division illustrates the brand's commitment to offering much more than conventional crockery. Since its inception in 1748, the company's products have been bringing style and sophistication to customers' lives, the guiding principle of which is anchored in its eventful history.
As a passionate tribute to its own history, the company has created Villeroy & Boch Signature, a unique array of selected premium collections incorporating all of its signatures: style, design competence, first-class quality and the art of fine living. Villeroy & Boch Signature is designed for discerning individuals who appreciate the world of fine hotels and elegant restaurants, and who also enjoy having exquisite tableware in their own homes.
Villeroy & Boch Signature recently unveiled its MetroChic and MetroChic blanc collections – combining contemporary design with an Art Deco attitude which represent perfect timeless elegance. The crockery, cutlery and gift items unite Art Deco style elements with state-of-the-art design, creating a striking aesthetic. Boasting a clear and distinct design, exquisite drinking glasses were developed for 2020, accentuating the elegance of MetroChic with confident understatement while adding a harmonious finishing touch to the entire collection.
The MetroChic Glass design was created for discerning connoisseurs. The new high-quality crystal glasses feature a pareddown look and provide the perfect drinking experience. The large surfaces allow wine and spirits to develop their fine aromas in the fuller bowls, which taper slightly upwards. The drinking vessels have all been made with extremely thin glass. High, very fine stems make the red and white wine goblets as well as champagne flutes
appear very delicate, whilst the cognac glass with its shorter stem sits comfortably in the hand.
The MetroChic collection with its varied, geometric decoration in the classic colours black and gold on pure white Premium Bone Porcelain offers an individual look and a variety of possible combinations. The design concept combines round shapes with clear contours, deep black lines with fine splashes of gold, and creates bold and unique statements of style and design on the table by mixing and matching various pieces of crockery. The handpolished, 20-carat gold finish is protected by the innovative ‘Inglaze Gold' technology.
The plain MetroChic blanc version is the go-to tableware for a more understated table setting. The pure white Premium Bone Porcelain features a glossy sheen and a fine thickness, which gives the stylish crockery its lightness and translucency. MetroChic and MetroChic blanc both know how to impress – whether solo, as a complete table setting, or combined together for an expressive individual arrangement. High-quality accessories including a cake stand, a vase and a lantern in translucent biscuit porcelain, match the classic dinner sets comprising plates, cups, platters and bowls.
The perfect table companion for these two collections is the cutlery of the same name that radiates pure elegance with its fine lines, unusual proportions and rounded contours. The high-quality stainless steel cutlery with its precise design lends an inspiring touch to the table setting, while MetroChic d'Or featuring a gold finish adds opulent highlights.
Since its launch in 1971, designer Helen von Boch's ‘Globe' has been an impressive and revolutionary concept, a surprising design that was well ahead of its time. Almost 50 years later in 2020, Villeroy & Boch presented a new interpretation of this innovative idea with ‘La Boule', a modern version of the exclusive porcelain globe. Available in four iconic designs, La Boule creates multifaceted effects and appeals to discerning design enthusiasts with an eye for exceptional creations.
A design object and stackable table service in one, La Boule impresses with a perfect symbiosis of functionality and aesthetics. This porcelain sphere consists of a compact table service for two people, with two Premium Porcelain bowls, flat bowls, universal plates and a serving platter. The assembled sphere is an exclusive design object that is a true highlight either on the table or as a decorative feature in the room – perfect for small apartments or as a statement piece in a large room.
Each of the four looks has its own individual charm. La Boule black and La Boule white impress with their elegant understated
design, while La Boule black & white appeals with contrasting effects. Inspired by the striking Memphis décor, La Boule memphis is destined to be a true design icon, the inspiration for which was a modern interpretation of the style of the Milan-based ‘Memphis' design group which caused such a sensation with their work in the 1980s. The piece reflects these striking designs, with their contrasting colours, unusual material and shape combinations, and playful patterns on furniture, textile and ceramic surfaces. Black and white stripes come together with surfaces in orange, rosé and Bordeaux to create a strong statement – bold and brimming with character.
High-quality objects made from natural materials with striking surfaces shaped by elaborate craftsmanship are extremely popular in current interior design trends. Villeroy & Boch recognised this strong international trend two years ago and embraced it in its extensive Manufacture Rock tableware collection. Thanks to its overwhelming success, more products joined the range in 2020, including coffee and espresso cups with saucers, a mug, square and rectangular plates and platters in two different sizes, and a new dip bowl that is also available as a four-piece set consisting of three bowls and a platter. New Manufacture Rock Glow products add elegant copper accents: saucers in three sizes, a bowl and a flat bowl.
The design of the Manufacture Rock collection embraces the typical slate look in black, coloured-through Premium Porcelain. Recreated on a fine relief with a touch of glaze, the characteristic layers of rock give the crockery a distinctly authentic look and feel. Manufacture Rock Blanc creates a vibrant effect in brilliant white, an unusual colour for a slate look. Each colour version has a distinctive effect, but they create contrasting black and white compositions when mixed and matched. Combining individual pieces with the hand-painted Manufacture Gris ranges or the elegant Manufacture Glow with a vibrant copper look brightens any table setting with attractive dashes of colour. Featuring a surface material whose appearance is almost identical to real slate, Manufacture Rock has all the advantages of ceramic: the crockery is dishwashersafe and microwave-safe.
The new Manufacture Rock Glow décor combines the slatelooking tactile surface of Manufacture Rock products with the elegant copper colour of Manufacture Glow. The rims and outer surfaces have a slate look, while the interior shines in a striking copper shade. As the softly shimmering 'CoverSeal®' surface does not contain any metal, the products are also dishwasher and microwavefriendly.
Villeroy & Boch and The Peninsula Hotels
The Peninsula Hotels, like Villeroy & Boch, have a long history and heritage, and the latter has collaborated with three Peninsula properties to date – in Tokyo, Beijing and Chicago.
For The Peninsula Tokyo, the company created a timeless design using its Stella and Dune collections made from Premium Bone Porcelain and Premium Porcelain embellished with a delicate filigree “P” (for “Peninsula”) motif.
As part of the restaurant and lobby renovation which was completed in 2017 at The Peninsula Beijing, the dishware was also replaced and the contract for the design of an exclusive dish series for a new “fun fine dining outlet” – Jing - was awarded to the hospitality business of the Dining & Lifestyle Division of Villeroy & Boch. The company's interpretation of the ‘Secret Garden' theme at Jing features one of the branches of the trees in the garden. The design was young, modern and fresh, whilst at the same time reviving traditional Chinese elements with modern accents. Made from the finest premium bone porcelain, the dishes were made in Germany and met the highest standards of quality both in terms of material and manufacture.
As well as placing great emphasis on cutting-edge production techniques, Villeroy & Boch also focuses on sustainability, environmental friendliness and the efficient use of resources. Its two Dining & Lifestyle plants meet the highest environmental standards and are certified according to the EMAS environmental standard based on strict European criteria.
Most recently, Villeroy & Boch Chicago created customised coupe plates from its Stella series for the hotel's Z Bar, which opened in June 2018 to much acclaim, and which in 2019 was named by the Forbes Travel Guide n its Verified List for 2019's World's Best Hotel Bars. The plates feature an eye-catching pug motif, a nod to Duchess and Tulip, the beloved pugs of Regional Vice President USA East Coast and General Manager of The Peninsula Chicago, Maria Zec, whom the bar is named after.
So if you are seeking to make your table look its finest, please visit https://www.villeroy-boch.co.uk/