Not worth the money - at $50 for six (instead of $40 for two) they would be.
Positive Product Points
Good, solid cup with a big, and I mean big handle. Porcelain in the cup is first rate, good gloss finish.
Negative Product Points
Saucers for the cappa cups, just like the espresso cups, seem a bit mismatched in the Saeco Series of cups. Also, there's no real justifying the price - these do not have the market resale value of illy collector cups. Artwork looks a bit stretched to fit.
Detailed Commentary
It's no surprise in the industry that Illy has got a bit of a cash cow going - it's art series cups. Initially these cups were meant as "prizes" and bonuses for Illy commercial clients, but demand skyrocketed and a few years ago, Illy started doing consumer sales and did it seriously.
Other espresso companies took note, and Saeco was one of them. They came out with a series of six cups in espresso, and six cups in cappuccino sizes to compete. They are sold in sets of two. Collectively, it can cost you more to buy a complete set of six Saeco cups than it can to buy a six-cup set of Illy art cups, which doesn't make sense - Illy cups have a proven market resale value that, partially thanks to eBay, shows they are a nice investment. Saeco doesn't have this background.
That said, I did get two of the six cappuccino cups in Saeco's art line - the Romeo e Juliet set. There's good and bad stuff about these cups. I've already outlined the pricing, which is one big issue, and the reason why I rated cost vs. value as 3.
They are nice cappuccino cups overall with a good feel, very solid and thick, and the traditional cappuccino size of roughly 5 ounces. The saucers are big enough to hold a nice-sized biscotti or other little nibbler. The handle is wide but solid, and they feel good in the hand.
Some negatives include artwork that just doesn't look as good as it does on the espresso sized cups - on the cappa cups, it seems stretched.
Overall, I just don't get the value in these. To me, these cups are worth maybe $50 for a set of six. Not $120 at current pricing. If they were fifty bucks, I'd rate them much higher. For this price, go for Illys. You can usually get a set of six illy cappa cups for around $150 if you shop around, and within a few years, if it is a popular set, they'll hold their resale value or increase.
Buying Experience
Aabree was most excellent to deal with for these cups.
