1

B6-Sunday News, December23,1979

By MARY TOBIN
UPI Business Writer

NEW YORK (UPI) - For
perhaps 2,000 people in the
world there's a $2 million in-
vestment that will bring
unusual dividends - unmat-
ched glamor for their dinner
parties.

For that sum the super-
rich can have a complete
dinner setting for 12 - plates
and cutlery - in 24 carat
gold, the result of a new pro-
cess of hardening the metal
developed by the Gerritsens,
a Dutch family that have
been gold and silversmiths
since 1863.

Ted J. Veenendaal, a
twinkly-eyed, bearded Dut-
chman, is marketing director
for Ofir Export, which has
worldwide rights for the
999.9 fine gold dinnerware.

Veenendaal said the din-
nerware is aimed at the
“super-rich and kings " He
estimates there are 2,000
people in the world who can
afford complete settings and
that about 1500 of them live
in the United States.

Albrit
Kitchen Cabinets

aud replacemeal door cere Com

Hote Canine! and Wichien Cabinet door
Higtatations
For tren entimate cot

980-6115

A SPACE SAVING foldaway table is great for apartments.

utlery for

One indication of prospec-
tive customers is Veenen-
daal's business card. It is
printed in English and
Arabic.

The firm's most splendid
offering is the King Solomon
banquet cassette which in-
cludes 516 pieces and goes
for about $6 million. The
cassettes, from the two-
place setting to the banquet,
come in hand-crafted nut-
wood cases. The 12 place-
setting case is worth $15,000.

Gold, while heavy and
durable, has through history
been too soft to use in its
pure state; thus 22-carat, 18-
carat and 14-carat gold
jewelry in which alloys,
usually copper, are mixed
with gold.

Even King Solomon,
whose Ofir pold mines in-

Gary Johnstone

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1
f
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

.

‘spired the name
marketing company, was
thought to have used a 14-
carat gold service at his ban-
quets.

The Gerritsen’s method - |

secret until Ofir has obtained
worldwide patents - has
changed all that. It involves
29 processes for each piece
and much of the work is
done by hand. But much of
the gold is lost in the pro-
cess.

“We have to buy three
times the amount of gold it
takes to make one piece,”
Veenendaal said. “You can
imagine the financing costs.”

Each piece has five
hallmarks: the Gerritsens,
the 999.9 fine, the universal
gold, the year of assay and
the Dutch government assay
office,

@ | @ |

‘of. the -

*

Veenendaal said the firm
will be able to produce about
350 table settings a year in its
present facilities, but it is
looking to expand.

“One of our problems has

been finding enough skilled

goldsmiths,” Veenendaal
said in an interview. “It's not
a skill you ‘can learn in
school. It involves a long
apprenticeship and usually is
passed from father to son.”

Veenendaal was in New
York with about $1 million
worth of the dinnerware. It
will be sold in the United
States through the Dayton
Hudson Co. jewelry firms,

which outbid prestigious
Neiman Marcus for the
privilege.

Johnstone’s Home Appliance Service!

* Apartment dwellers will, find
at useful and Practical. oe

; attractive, be sure. to. check
all _ measurements before.

Thank you for your patronage over the past year.
Thanks to you, our in-the-home appliance service
has been tremendously successful. We look forward
to serving you in the same fashion in the new year!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

965 Marine Drive North Vancouver

985-9541

If-you inténd to paint, giv.
"the table one‘or two coats of.
i. eshellac, - being ‘sure: to ‘sand: -
You: will neéd oné sheet of, lightly «between: coats and’
3/4-inch” plywood “and: then ‘paint. to your. choice cof:

several lengths of “pine. colors. . ae a ~ é “s
Because” you'll) want the .- | Bee
finished. project to look : . omy

fey 1979, Deco-Plans,1 Tae:
' _ Distributed by Toronto ‘Sun
cutting. : nae - Syndicate _-

~ ee a a ae Se me a cae ae en

Mail.to: = ~~
Deco-Plans: Inc.

P.U. Box 3000. _—
Cornwall, Ont. KeH SRB. mr

oO: “Please. send me Plan No. :

for $3.00
(includes. Soe far postage.and Dendling)

0. Please ‘send. me the Deco-Plans catalogue for $3.00
(included 50¢ for postage and handling) containing
over 1580 original do-it-yourself projects.

“TOTAL: 3 7
Send cheque or money ‘order: made out to Deco-Plans

Inc. Allow three weeks for delivery. Please PRINT
your:name and address:

ry

aon tt
AGATESS..... 60. sseiecsersernsssncnveneecesnecssoornsnesespeoroenees

City... sascasonvaclesiecnsses avnasesnscesccoeseiecaneeeses.

POV... .reeeeasseseniny POCE CODE. .crerersssorersscnseesenrsnse

“

r
t
i
|
!
!
|
!
|
{
!
|
|
!
!
j
|
Jt
|

J

ij

L

‘Insulate for $86. 00

It your | home was built before > 1961, you qualify
for a gov't grant of up to $500, that you never

.. have to pay back. (We install in most attics at a
net cost to you of $86.)

Only gov't approved fire retardant insulation used.
All work guaranteed to pass CMHC inspections.
We carry payment and assist with forms.

We also insulate walls.

Linken Home Insulation
437-5553

vermo Glass
Tales the chills out
of your late night viewing.

Src

billing drafts caused by wandew hear loss
can omake vour home ought oncomtorty
ble. Our Conversion Systentain reduce wine
dow bear loss by up to SOP a, reduce nose,
reduce condensadon, amd oon

crease Che value of your home. ee RD ay

“oe . . ese agin ie

Call for a free estunmate of Sy’

dddvine, OSO-7ST1 ~

Matda Themes Glacs Ltd.

407 Mountain Highway North Vancouver, B.C. V7j 211