Porcelain takes on luxury titans

After 300 years crafting baroque porcelain for French kings and Russian tsars, Germany's Meissen has launched an in-house revolution to weather the economic downturn.

Under an energetic new manager, 39-year-old Christian Kurtzke, Europe's oldest porcelain manufacturer is pursuing a new strategy to position itself as a luxury brand to rival Louis Vuitton and Bulgari.

"For 300 years Meissen has stood for the art of luxury. Now we want to be the world's leading German luxury brand," said Mr Kurtzke, a former manager at the Boston Consulting Group who took over as head of state-owned Meissen four months ago.

With an eye on Italian and Chinese markets, Mr Kurtzke also wants to position Meissen more strongly as a brand for watches, jewellery, pens and interior design.

"Shares and money lose value but porcelain doesn't. It's always got a fundamental worth and can even be used as currency," said Kiel-based porcelain assessor Hans Benemann.

The Meissen brand is certainly in Kurtzke's favour, as it embodies the birth of European porcelain.

Blue and white "Onion pattern" plates, baroque vases and intricate figurines of animals, birds and humans won acclaim and Meissen's crossed-swords, one of the world's oldest trademarks, graced the tables of Europe's aristocracy.

Moulders pour a grey mix from copper jugs, and painters at wooden tables mix colours on palettes with miniscule brushes.

Such is the quality, older items fetch a high price and have a strong following among collectors.

Meissen, whose antiques compete with France's Sevres and the UK's Chelsea, still fares well at auction.