Yes, worth the trip if you are into ceramics. And if you can carry the items home.
Be warned though, my boss was there in July 2003 and purchased quite a bit (about $700 worth or dinner plates and platters). They shipped in October and he did not get the items until January (slow boat and held in customs forever) and it was $400 for shipping and customs charges.
Vietri sul Mare (windows on the sea) has several dozen shops selling ceramics of all types. The best-known is Solimene. It was closed the two times we visited, so we shopped at Ceramica Bisogno instead. Nice stuff and we had no problem with the shipping.
We wandered around Vietri a bit and didn't find it particularly charming. It's worth a stop if you're really interested in ceramics; it is fun to see the brightly-tiled stores with their wares spilling out onto the streets.
One note; as I and others have pointed out on this board, many believe Da Lena in Ravello is the best place on the coast for high-quality products, decent prices, and reliable shipping.
Hi Lorac - the only receipt we still have handy is from last fall, when we ordered more place settings from Da Lena via the internet. Shipping and customs fees totaled about $150 on an $800 order; put another way, we paid 20% of the purchase price to get the stuff delivered to Westchester County. It took about a month.
We've had purchases from Da Lena shipped to us three times, each time was a breeze.
ALERT! Male-non-shopper! I've been 2-3 times on the obligatory stop for visitors while driving to Sorrento.(what fun for the driver). It's typical of ceramic towns all over Italy except there is something of a view(but not as nice a view as from Ravello down the road). If you're into collecting examples of ceramics from different areas of Italy (like chicken pitchers) then I guess it's a must to stop. Be careful! This is CAMPANIA and "fooling the tourist" is a regional pasttime. For example-swapping the broken for the unbroken right in front of your eyes! And if you do catch them in something nefarious the response is usually nothing more than a shrug-of-the-shoulders. But IMHO this makes for great sport. I take great pride in only being ripped 3 times in 3+ years.
Posts: 182 | Location: Leesburg, FL 34788 USA | Registered: 16 October 2003
Solimene is where my bosses items came from. They included packing in the price. But not shipping or customs.
I worked in the art world for 6 years and shipped overseas constantly and $400 is actually a cheap shipping/customs charge for the three large boxes he received.
I will caution everyone to be very carefull in having ceramics shipped back to the states. Three years ago, we had a number of items shipped back to us by Ceramica Bisogno Giuseppe in Vietri and they were poorly packed causing the largest and most expensive item to arrive broken. We were promised that the charges covered freight and insurance but after repeated phone calls and letters (and Giuseppe's promises to replace the vasca blu, we have received nothing. Last May, we purchased around $1,000 in ceramics from Ceramiche Fanny in Deruta. Evidently this guy has no intention of shipping our order as it has been 9 months now and even he has now run out of excuses and does not return my emails. What is it about the Italian ceramics guys? does anyone have any tips how I can obtain satisfaction?
Posts: 298 | Location: falmouth , MA USA | Registered: 09 December 2003
I had the same problem with Fanny in Deruta. I spent about 9 months tracking him down, getting promises, having the promises broken . . . I even had an Italian partner of mine harrass him. What finally worked was when I walked back into his store and demanded my order be filled. [He had offered to refund my $ earlier, but I am not sure if he would have followed through]. I walked out with the goods.
I travel to Deruta several times a year. You should keep calling him, writing and faxing and if you would like me to drop in on him during my next visit, I would be happy to!
I had no problems with getting my set of dishes from Da Lena. They arrived in about a month in perfect condition. On another trip we shipped large platters from Spello again with no problems.
I guess we were lucky
Edna
Posts: 312 | Location: Irvington, New York | Registered: 28 July 2001
Hi Bill, Thanks for the offer. I will be haunting Sr Pimpinelli with faxes and emails for the next couple of months untill we return to the area in May. I may have to spend some time on the Italian language area here to get some "special" phrases that I can greet him with!!!
Posts: 298 | Location: falmouth , MA USA | Registered: 09 December 2003
I suggest you do some window shopping for Italian dishes at kitchen shops at home before going to Vietri. It is quite overwhelming, so it helps to know what you like before you go. And, you may not save much with shipping costs. We enjoyed the visit to the huge ceramic factory there, but didn't find anything unusual or of the quality we were looking for. Many fun patterns, though.
Posts: 414 | Location: Boulder, CO | Registered: 22 May 2002
Well, it's been forever since I've posted...started a business (I now import Italian table linens) bought a little house in Sardinia (hopefully ready for rental by the end of summer) and had a few personal family tragedies. I still log on when I can to catch a quick glimpse of "all Italy all the time", but have not really had the time to post.BUT, this one topic is one very near and dear to my heart. Ceramiche Fanny in Deruta! One of my original posts last year dealt with this (expletive deleted) crook...I can't believe he is continuing to bilk unsuspecting visitors of their money. I'm traveling now, but when I return home, I'll email anyone who is interested a whole slew of messages from the "taken by Luca Pimpinelli club". I finally got my order (second quality goods, not what I ordered, etc. )after two years of doing everything short of sending a hit man...thinking about it even now makes me want to take out a full page ad in the New York Times warning people to stay away!
We have made a half dozen successful purchases from Ceramiche D'Arte (Pasquale Sorrentino) in Ravello....beautiful selection, honest proprietor. Custom work shipped as promised, and we negotiated a good price with shipping included.
So, anyone who wants more Fanny information, let me know and I'll gladly send it along, complete with everyone's tactics (some worked, some not) for dealing with him.
Topic Closed
