We’re on our last post about collecting Normandie pink and amber depression glass. Our last criterion is how easily Normandie chips or cracks.
Damage Susceptibility
Normandie has one main problem, inner rim roughness. Normandie bowls and plates have scalloped rims with smooth curves and no points so they have few problems with chipping on the outside edge of the rim. The inside edge of the rims has a sharp drop off to the main body and this inner rim chips easily.
This Patrician plate shows the problem. (Patrician has the same problem with inner rim roughness.)
Patrician Amber Plate with Inner Rim Roughness
If you plan to use your glass for dinner or lunch then minor damage like these rough spots may not matter to you. However if you want only perfect glass then you may want to avoid Normandie. Dinner plates and bowls are hard enough to find in any condition mnuch less in perfect shape without any rough spots.
Tumblers, pitchers, cups, creamer and sugar, sherbets don’t have any particular damage concerns. They all have smooth edges with no sharp drop offs or points.
Overall Collectors’ Fun Quotient for Normandie Depression Glass
Beautiful. We scored Normandie high for its beautiful design and colors, giving it a 9.
Pieces to Collect. Normandie scored a little lower for the nu,mber of pieces in the pattern. Federal Glass made a dinnerware set complete with serving pieces and tumblers but there are no decorative accessories such as candle holders, console bowls, candy jars or cookie jars.
Availability. We look for patterns where some pieces are easy to find, enough that a collector can easily get a basic set or a few pieces to use, yet includes other pieces that are difficult. This give a good balance between the fun of hunting for glass and the fun of owning glass. Normandie includes a few pieces that are easy to find such as cups, saucers, sherbets but most basic pieces are extremely hard to find in pink. Pink dinner plates are nearly impossible to find, especially in perfect condition, as are salt an pepper shakers and tumblers.
Amber Normandie plates, bowls and tumblers are more abundant but still not overly plentiful. If you want a dinner set then it’s wise to look for Normandie grill plates instead of dinner plate.
We gave Normandie a 5 for availability.
Price. Normandie in amber ranges from affordable to moderately expensive, with lunch/salad plates running between $8 and $26, cup and saucer sets about $10. Even serving pieces like the oval vegetable bowl are reasonable, around $20. Other pieces that are hard to find will be more.
Pink Normandie is more expensive. Pink cup and saucer sets are about $15 and the sherbet plate and small fruit bowl are also affordable at $9-10 (all prices per Replacements). Other plates, bowl, pitcher, tumblers are costly.
Normandie was hard to score for price since it varied so much by piece, but overall I felt the amber was a 6 and pink a 2.
Overall. Normandie is beautiful and a pretty choice if you would like a few cups and saucers for your windowsill, or a small dessert set. If your heart is set on pink depression glass, or you prefer to get a larger set or want to use a depression glass pattern for dinner then I recommend you look carefully at the overall availability and cost before choosing Normandie to collect.
For amber it’s an easier choice to collect and comes down to what you like.