Lenox Spice Village Comparison

In the 1980s my parents were farmers and money was scarce as there was also years of drought in our area and recession to the entire country, but my maternal grandmother was thriving financially and her tastes were becoming rather grand. She began collecting a china set called Happy Holidays by Nikko. I remember going to the mall enough years in a row that it began to be a beloved tradition to select one piece (we could only afford to get one thing) of this dinnerware set to add to Nana's collection. I admit that even then, I could see the value in such a collection because it truly made that Christmas day dinner table a feast for the eyes. My cousins and I carefully handled each piece as we made whispered declarations to each other that one day we too would set such a grand table. The end of the 20th century also saw the end of the Christmas dinner set as this trend went out of style and Nikko officially retired the collection in 2014.

The other set of dishes I coveted growing up was the Royal Albert Old Country Rose set. I pressed my little face and hands against the case each time we passed the display at the mall and declared to those very same cousins (we did everything together) that those would be the dishes I would use one day when I grew up. They pointed out the sets that they would have and I nodded in support of their dreams while secretly feeling that my choice was the loveliest of all. For most people, a part of growing up is forgetting childish dreams. For me, growing up has been all about fulfilling them, or at least as many as haven't changed over the years. I say all of this to se the stage, so that you can see that even as a child I loved all these dishes and pretty things and have kept my personal vows to achieve ownership of them.

The Lenox company was founded in 1889 by Walter Scott Lenox as a ceramic art studio creating handpainted pieces and exactly 100 years later, they popped up on my radar when the Spice Village was first released by Lenox in 1989. It consisted of 24 spice jars about 3" in height that were delicately handpainted porcelain. They were offered as part of subscription service sending one per month on a two year plan. Lenox later added other pieces to the village such as canisters, napkin holders, spoon rests and the like. I vaguely recall seeing an ad for this sometime in the early 90s as at that time I was part of a similar subscription service through the Danbury Mint for Barbie figurines. I also recall the carousel horse spice jars and absolutely loved them all, but all of my allowance was going to pay for those dolls each month, so I tucked it away in my mind.

Flash forward to the 2020s and to my surprise I saw a TikTok of someone finding a complete set at a GoodWill for about $10. I, like evidentally so many people out there, had a fire (re)kindled to make this beautiful set a part of my china collection. I searched and scoured for years, but sadly, as it turned out, these pieces had not gone down in value since they were discontinued only a few years later in the early 90s. In fact, with the added viral internet craze the prices soared even more. Determined that I would not pay $1200 to $2500 for a set of little jars that look like houses, I decided to watch and wait. I kept an eye out for two years at thrift shops and flea markets and one day managed to score the cream and sugar set for only $16!! (They are currently listed at around $200-$400)

I suppose Lenox finally got the news that their pieces were causing a panic because they decided to bring them back in 2024. I missed out on the first round, but signed up to be notified upon the second release in 2025. I don't normally check my email at work, but on this day I thankfully did and fairly leapt from my chair to grab my credit card and buy my complete set before they sold out again. Unfortunately, when I signed up to Lenox I never got my first order promo code. It arrived after I placed my order, so that 20% off came a little too late. I wrote to Lenox to ask if it could be applied, but they said that no promo codes were being accepted on the Spice Village. Oh, well. Can't hurt to ask. The good news is that my order shipped within about 3 days and arrived within just one week of ordering. Another slice of good news is that the complete set is currently selling for $285 for all 24, $72 for sets of six, or $15 for individual pieces. So far it is only the spice jars that have restocked, not the canisters, tea set, etc. However, purchasing the 24 piece set saves you 20% off the price of purchasing individually.

Since I have a couple of the original pieces, I can do a side by side comparison in photos, but I'll also post my YouTube review below. Originally this set came with a spice rack in the shape of a house, and while there is one on the Lenox site that looks much cuter than the original in my opinion, it is currently sold out. However, I found a blogpost with instructions on how to make your own and I'll leave the link for that at the bottom as well.

This set shipped within days of ordering and arrived within a week! No promo codes are accepted for this set and there is a limit of one per customer. It was minimally packaged and yet arrived without a single chip in any of the pieces. The photo below was taken after I removed the paper from each house.

Just a quick side by side comparison of the vintage piece in the middle and the new spice jars at the sides. I don't see any variance in the quality. There is a lot of texture and details and the paint job is fantastic. Check out my video review below for more info.