The Alchemy of Nambé Alloy

Alchemy was the medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on the transformation of matter. While we may not have discovered a universal elixir, Nambé's metal alloy may be the next best thing.

The composition of Nambé Alloy is proprietary and a closely guarded secret. What we can tell you: It was developed by a man named Martin Eden, who had previously worked for Los Alamos National Laboratories during the Manhattan Project. The alloy maintains the unique ability to retain temperature for long periods of time. Our alloy is a combination of eight different metals and contains no silver or pewter. When polished it has a beautiful silver-like luster, yet it does not chip or peel and is resistant to tarnish. Nambé Alloy meets FDA guidelines and is safe for cooking and serving.

The alchemy does not begin and end with this proprietary metal. When the formula was revealed to our founder, Pauline Cable, she realized that she had discovered a material that inspired her passion for design. Given the metal's ability to retain temperature (hot or cold) for long periods of time she set to work with her foundry's designer, Richard K. Thomas, to create a collection of modern cookware and serveware. Esthetically pleasing and functional beyond anything the market had ever seen before, "Nambé Ware" was born.

Today, creating our signature metal pieces involves the hands of as many as 15 craftsmen, who use traditional foundry techniques that can be traced as far back a 200 BC. One-time use molds are created by compressing fine silica sand around a pattern. The alloy is heated to approximately 1300 degrees F. and hand-ladled into the mold. A system of "gates and risers" allows the molten metal to flow into the mold and provides for the air to escape.

Once cooled, the castings are extracted from the mold, the gates and risers are trimmed and recycled, and the meticulous polishing process begins. Each piece is held against a wheel by hand to be shaped, ground, coarse-polished, and ultimately polished to a high luster. Every item passes through a rigorous quality-control inspection before it is engraved with its item number, designer, date of release, and finally, the Nambé name.

It is then that we have transformed this curious metal into an object of functional beauty, sure to be passed down from generation to generation.