Christofle is a French manufacturer and retailer of high-end
tableware
Tableware is any dish or dishware used for setting a table, serving food, and dining. It includes cutlery, glassware, serving dishes, and other items for practical as well as decorative purposes. The quality, nature, variety and number of obj ...
, jewelry and
home accessories. Founded in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
by Charles Christofle in 1830, the company is known for making fine
silverware
Silverware may refer to:
* Household silver including
**Tableware
**Cutlery
**Candlesticks
*The work of a silversmith
* Silverware is also a slang term for a collection of trophies
A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achieveme ...
.
Christofle was acquired in 2012 by one of its shareholders, the
Chalhoub Chalhoub is an Arabic surname of primarily Levantine origin. Notable people include:
*Aida Chalhoub (born 1951), Lebanese singer
*Claude Chalhoub (born 1974), Lebanese musician
*Michel Chalhoub (1931–2021), French billionaire
*Michel Soto Chalhou ...
family.
History
The company was established in 1830, when jeweler Charles Christofle (1805–1863) assumed management of a jewelry workshop belonging to his wife's family.
[ The company introduced ]electrolytic
An electrolyte is a medium containing ions that is electrically conducting through the movement of those ions, but not conducting electrons. This includes most soluble salts, acids, and bases dissolved in a polar solvent, such as water. Upon d ...
gilding and silver plating to France in 1842. Among the company's product lines are silver picture frames, crystal vases and glassware, porcelain dinnerware, and silver jewelry and holloware
Holloware (hollowware, or hollow-ware ) is metal tableware such as sugar bowls, creamers, coffee pots, teapots, soup tureens, hot food covers, water jugs, platters, butter pat plates, and other items that accompany dishware on a table. It ...
.
In 1951, Christofle agreed with Ernest Cardeilhac to purchase the Cardeilhac firm's tools and patterns. The Cardeilhac firm had been founded in 1804 by Antoine-Vital Cardeilhac, who became a well-known silversmith
A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary gre ...
in Paris.
During the 20th century, Christofle remained under the co