The skillet out of the box is absolutely stunning, adding the leather pot holder to it really sets it off, truly beautiful. Seems to do exactly what I need and the size is great. The problem is that on the first cook (ground beef, oil, salt) , the factory seasoning really deteriorated in spots and the bottom of the pan took on a half "silver" half copper look. I have multiple "cheap" CI's so I know how to operate the heat, etc. I followed Smithey's instructions on seasoning on the stovetop and that proved really ineffective. I went back to the standard method (in the oven with a light layer of oil for an hour) and that did help improve the pans splotchiness, but its still a work in progress and still looks bad while I get through the initial phase, I suppose. Knocking a star off, given the price of the pan and the seasoning instructions being ineffective. I will revise the review after a month and some heavy use.