Villeroy & Boch

Any tableware priced at Rs. 3 lakhs for an 87-piece dinner set will surely floor your guests even if the food doesn't quite cut it. Hopefully.

Villeroy & Boch, the European company established in 1748, has finally arrived at the Indian market that was starved for some world-class hedonistic lifestyle products. Sitting pretty cheek-by-jowl to Llardo, another luxury showroom, Villeroy & Boch brings to Hyderabad a new breed of high-end lifestyle products at scandalous prices. There are salad plates and dessert spoons, gravy boats and serving platters, besides the more pedestrian dinner plates and wine glasses available in collections with names like Ivoire and Petite Fleur. The merchandise has, among other things, an unmistakable continental flavour.

You can get a coffee mug for Rs. 1,500, with a spoon thrown in at an additional Rs. 800, or even an Oval soup tureen at Rs. 24,900 for the truly lion-hearted. Nevertheless, the presence of such a store reminds the daily commuter of Hyderabad's steady march towards becoming a true metropolis - the bone-jarring construction activity notwithstanding.