I would check with the manufacture on how to maintain your flatware.

Having said that, I also just bought a new set of stainless flatware. Mine are18/10 chromium/nickel composition and are stamped rather than forged.

I was told by the retailer that the blade portion of my knives are carbon-steel which may stain, rust or pit if not cleaned and dried in a timely manner. I was also instructed to always keep the knives in a separate compartment from other flatware, both in the dishwasher and in storage, and to always point the knives in the same direction, so that the handle of one knife doesn't touch the blade of another knife.

What is high end? All good stainless is 18/10 and made in America. That which is made in other countries is often recycled stainless.
Anyway, it is all cared for the same way. Any differences will be noted by the manufacturer with appropriate care.

I hear what you are saying but their instructions are not very good. I think Carl Pott is the highest end quality-wise that I have seen it's all 18/10 stainless and not recycled. A 5 piece set is $360 and each piece is hand made in Germany. Puiforcat is more expensive but from what I have seen their stainless steel isn't really better

The manufacturer's care instructions seem poorly translated to me.

http://www.pott-bestecke.de/material-pflege/

This post was edited by SoylentGreen on Sat, May 24, 14 at 22:47

Well, mine's not that high end. I have gorham melonbud stainless. Some of it is eighteen years old and has been used as our everyday silverware for most of that time. It has always been washed in the dishwasher and had no particular care taken with it. We have added more place settings as recently as two years ago and I can't tell the difference between the new and the old.

Good to hear. I suspect I just need to use it as I normally would...if I have to care about it then I should probably have something cheaper.

Theresa2 or anyone: I'm curious about the composition of the knives and consequently the special care needed. I have 2 sets of stainless that are 18/10. I wash in DW and never pay any attention to how they are loaded or what they might be touching. They never rust and still look new after many years. My daughter received a seemingly nice set from her wedding registry that had the rust issue. She called the company and they gave her some other replacement choices. The replacement set does not do this. Are the newer sets made differently than the older? Is the carbon steel blade something relatively new? I thought stainless steel meant all stainless steel. I suppose the fine print indicates otherwise.

I have Oneida's stainless pattern Othenia, which is 18/10 stainless and has never rusted. However, it has a mirror finish that, while beautiful when new, would have to be hand washed and stored very carefully (not touching other pieces) to preserve. Mine has been knocked about, crowded in the dishwasher, and is subjected daily to hard well water (even though the water is treated and our Miele dishwasher has its own water softener). It still looks good, but it looks used. I have a service for 20 but occasionally have to replace a piece, and the new ones have a perfect finish and look much better. But I am not going to baby everyday flatware. We hand wash our silver, which we use fairly often, and that's enough!

I clipped this from a random website:

Knife construction
There are three main methods for constructing a knife. The first method involves stamping a single piece of metal into the shape of a knife. The "blade" area is generally made a bit thinner, and is almost always serrated. This is the least expensive method for constructing a knife, and its cutting performance is poor to fair, depending on the manufacturer.

The second method is to use the "drop forge" technique, where molten steel is poured into a mold, and is fashioned into the shape of a knife. Again, the "blade" area is made thinner than the handle, and is also usually serrated. Most manufacturers who use this technique will spend a little more time on the blade finishing, and its performance is fair to moderate.

The third method is to use a hollow knife handle, insert a high-quality carbon-steel cutting blade, then sealing the two together. These knives are called "hollow handle" knives. With this technique, the manufacturer can offer a variety of different quality knife blades. Many of these blades are serrated, but in the higher quality of patterns they are not, due to their already superior cutting edge. The performance of this type of knife is moderate to excellent.

High-carbon blades are used in better kitchen knives, due to their superior performance. The only downside is that high-carbon blades are less stain-resistant than the other flatware pieces. Flatware manufacturers are always working to create a good balance of dishwasher resistance and superior cutting performance.

I'm with KSWL on not wanting to baby my everyday stainless. I have Oneida, Michelangelo and it looks great with all it's been through. I don't really baby my sterling either though I do wash by hand.

We very seldom run our holiday grade stainless through the dishwasher, but when we do, we hand dry the pieces so as to minimize the time the mist lies on the surfaces. They usually get a soak in hot soapy water for 5-10 minutes (on a sinkliner), a coldwater rinse and an immediate hand dry. Left to air for an hour or two before being picked up.
We treat our sterling the same way. Everything else gets tossed in the dishwasher.