Jumping in since this thread is at the top!

1) a super ~12" stainless skillet like the Demeyere Proline though the Hestan Nanobond I'm 'test driving" right now is a close second
2) Staub enameled oval dutch oven ~6 quarts which won't work well for bread but, is superior for boned meats
3) a tall saute pan or a low sauce pan (whatever the proper name is) in a ~4 quart capacity so moisture can escape if that is the goal and rice (or similar) can be cooked but, tall enough for soup, beans, and similar things, probably Hestan Nanobond today but, Lagotina Lagofusion would be awesome too

The "old" Hobart/KA textured mixers were really beasts. The new ones with plastic gears not so much and that goes for the 500~600W models too!

In terms of use, I'd rate this along the lines of cast iron, stainless and, non-stick aluminum skillets. All work well if you know how to use them. Most people have strong preferences.

I still use a $12 Walmart Lodge cast iron skillet even though I have $200 skillets too! Sometimes it more an issue of the user being a creature of habit and not a technical deficiency of the appliance in question!

First, use room temperature eggs!

A little oil or butter, in the beginning, will make "break-in" much easier. Personally, I cook some bacon first but, sausage or other fatty meats would work well too.

Speaking from personal experience, water and a slow simmer works wonders! A firm sponge will generally get the residue but, I've been known to use a fingernail to loosen some stubborn stuff.

I would avoid the Scotchbrite pads as they are pretty aggressive and will leave swirls and similar marks in the pan.

I recently started testing out a Hestan Nanobond ~9" skillet. It was a little bit of a hard sell for me because I really like my cast iron and steel but, my archaic end-of-life cheap disposable cooktop takes ~20 minutes to get warm enough to cook and there are things I don't want to cook in cast iron. I must say, I really like this skillet. It isn't as non-stick as a Teflon aluminum throwaway skillet but, Frittatas and various breakfast egg dishes haven't presented any problems that weren't easily fixed with a tweak to my cooking technique. I find the handle to be really easy to hold and use. It makes moving the skillet or tilting it really easy without needing a "death grip" to hold onto it.
- Hestan nanobond - recommended and own one
- Cristel - no personal experience
- Mauviel M Cook - owned one with a non-stick interior and was not impressed; not bad but, not good enough for me to warrant the price
- Paderno GG - no personal experience
- Falk copper core (I assume this would still be heavy but more responsive?) - I have copper but, I find it to be higher maintenance than I like and it is pretty heavy because mine is all ~2.5mm thick

In terms of saucepans, stockpots, etc. I'm really liking the Lagostina Lagofusion piece I have had for ~3 weeks. I recently picked up two more because I liked it so much. I personally find it be very attractive in addition to being easy to handle and wonderful to use. The Cookstar base in my Fissler pans works really well but, I'm finding, so far, the Lagostina Lagofusion cooks better. A gentle simmer with the heat on the sides is much easier to achieve on "MY COOKTOP".

- Lagostina Lagofusion - own and really like it, even with a weak electric stovetop
- Paderno GG - no personal experience
- Cristel - no personal experience
- Mauviel M Cook - no personal experience

The first Hestan Nanobond 3L "soup pot" I bought was lost in transit and a month later I got its replacement. I hope to give it a spin this week. Based on my skillet experience, I think it will work out well with anything that is apt to leave a sticky or burned crust in the pan as the Nanobond surface will make cleaning much easier.

I would recommend you keep an eye on Amazon.de and any other popular sites for "try me" or sales pricing on both Hestan and Lagofusion. Get one of each and give them a spin. If they don't work out, you can always sell them on with minimal financial risk.

I say this because what works for how I cook in my kitchen on my cooktop may or may not represent your use well. Then there is the other issue of what we cook! Lots of cheese or cream? Heavy stews or chilli? Frying meats (chicken fried steak or fish)? ...

Good quality Melamine shouldn't warp in a soup that is at a reasonable temperature to consume. I use Melamine soup ladles and spatulas and find them pretty tolerant of harsh use within reason. I should note I don't use a high heat dishwasher to clean them so that is an open question.

Regarding porcelain marking the bowls, that is really a function of both the spoon and the bowl. Personally, I find high quality porcelain to be reasonably durable but, it will chip unless you are super careful with it. Washing and storage are the biggest risks in general in my house.

For your pot and saucepans, understand if you want a curved bottom to make scooping beans with a "spoon" or soup with a ladle. Radiused or curved bottoms make cleaning a lot easier too. Pots and pans that are stamped with a really tight radius are harder to use IMHO.

As I referenced, curved or sloped skillets tend to spill or "slop" sauces and ingredients if you are stirring and flipping things. They work better for things that you want to get under like pancakes or omelets but, are worse about 'steaming' things in a crowded skillet.

Regarding glass lids, my limited use of them was not good because the things I wanted to see were always steamed up blocking my view. For other things, whether the lid was clear or not was not an issue. This leads me to prefer steel lids.

Then there is the whole issue of rivets. Hestan Nanobond flattens them out to make it basically a "don't care" to me personally but, I have a strong preference for welded handles. Basically, I find rivets a pain to clean around versus a smooth welded pan interior. Some handles are a pain to hand clean as well so, handle design on the outside has its own preferences for many people. For me, tube handles are something I generally try to avoid, especially if they trap water or are totally round and not elliptical or oval or some other similar non-round shape.

I think I followed a similar cookware path earlier in life to what you are approaching today.

Regarding your cleaning and polishing comment, avoid copper cookware and anodized aluminum. Copper cooks really nice but, old copper obviously is a no-go on induction. That being said, an older sauce pan from France via eBay or similar is worth a "test drive" now for oatmeal and small batches of other things for breakfast (American here) or all kinds of sauces for pasta and other similar things.

Now, before you drop a significant amount of money on a full set of pans, buy one or two "samplers" to try and make sure they work for YOU. If not, eBay is your friend here and you can try again.

For a good skillet experience, I would suggest Cast Iron for anyone in North America as a 26~28cm Lodge can be purchased for $15~$20USD where I live from multiple big box stores. Understand if you want rounded sides or a sharply sloped side to your skillet. One is easier for pancakes and omelet, and the other is much better for things like Fried Chicken or skillet "meals" with veggies and proteins.

My vote in the EU would be for a Demeyere Proline 11"/26cm skillet, unlined stainless. Cooking eggs with no sticking takes a bit of technique but, is doable.

For saucepans and stockpots (and other various EU pans of a similar nature), Understand what you want to cook and how you want to cook it first!
- Mauviel M'Cook is good cookware. However, my limited use has been good but not great so, factoring in its price makes it not a good choice for me.
- Lagostina Lagofusion is one that looks very promising but, I am still very early in my learning process here with a single pan off eBay in a less popular pan style. I should note, I expect to get three more I bought of Amazon.de in another Month or so. These are fully clad so heat will carry up the sides of the pan better than most, and there is a "disc" bottom to further spread heat out from the burner itself. This hybrid style of cookware could be either a love or hate proposition depending on your expectations.
- Fissler Original Profi is one I have a lot of experience with as a "daily driver". Performance for value is very high with the brand. The "cookstar" base has met and exceeded all expectations. The one 'nit' I have is that I would like thicker sides to the pans.
- Hestan Nanobon is a bit of an open question at the moment. In theory, I have a 3L "soup pot" in transit to me but, weeks later I have no tracking updates or acknowledgment. The little skillet I bought is impressive so, I bought the "soup pot" to try a more well rounded versatile pan but, that may turn into an insurance claim with the Post Office and vendor.
- Staub enameled cookware is a love it or leave it proposition for many. I like the Staub line more than the Le Creuset, black interior included. In particular, I like the Oval Dutch Ovens for boned meats (pork, beef, fowl). For myself, I love doing a "one pot" meal with potatoes and other vegetables with a slow long-duration bake in an oven.
- All-Clad is a line I am not a fan of. Yes, they cook well but, I can get prettier pans that cook better for less money. My friends would not be impressed by the European brands but, I don't care. They can brag about All-Clad all they want and I sit there quietly remembering why I like my other pans better.

For eye appeal, Lagostina Lagofusion pans with their coined bases, to me, are really good lookers! The one pan I currently have is easy to handle as well.

My Hestan Nanobond skillet is really impressive so far but, it is hard to put a final statement on an entire line based on one small skillet. I will say the handle is really comfortable and the skillet itself looks really good to me.

Based on this limited sample of Italian premium cookware, I think I really like the style and ergonomics of cookware from Italy the best. That is not to say my Belgian, French, and German options aren't really great too. It might be a bit of a BMW vs Ducati motorcycle type choice with both being really great options with slightly different strengths. I'd be happy to ride either but, for where and how I ride, a Ducati very hard to turn down!

I daily drove a Nakirir for a long time but, found it lacked the space need to be an effective 'scoop'. Its thinness made cutting veggies super easy.

The Sugimoto CM-4030 is heavier and thicker. I found this to be a drawback but, it has its place with harder veggies. It also works great for scooping things up for a nice stew or skillet meal.

A nice long Gyuto works best for things like full heads of lettuce or larger fruit like Cantelopes and Watermelon.

In reasonably skilled hands, either can be used for the vast majority of tasks so it really comes down to personal preference in most cases. The "bench scraper" and "scoop" functions of the Sugimoto means it is the one most often found on the cutting board ready to go.

Cristel Casteline Pro looks pretty nice but, on my current cooktop it probably isn't the best choice unless I add a diffuser of some sort or buy a portable induction unit. I will keep an eye on eBay and Amazon for a possible "try me piece" though.

Demeyere might be an option too if I find something at a Williams-Sonoma or a similar shop to look at in person. I like their Atlantis line pieces I have used in years past but, I don't think they would be a good choice for my situation today though those Atlantis/Proline skillets are a hidden gem IMHO for a lot of uses.

I finally got logged into Amazon DE with my user id. There are a lot of options there to purchase cookware but, 95 Euros to ship via standard seamail is a bit horrendous IMHO. Even when I tried a shipment from Italy to Germany it was a touch over 50 Euros. I guess COVID still has shipping and logistics messed up.

Amazon UK won't even ship to the USA at the moment on the pans I loaded into my cart.

eBay so far has yielded similar results. I wish these were imported into the USA. They look a lot nicer IMHO than All-Clad and are priced similarly with the additional benefit, to me at least, of having disc bottom.

If international travel was less problematic, it would be tempting to grab a last-minute airfare to the EU and an AirBnB or similar place for a week of good food and local market "Easter egg" hunts (i.e. finding hidden gems in local shops that are not popular with the locals). The weekend "city square" markets in the Netherlands have been some of the best but, weekend festivals in rural Germany are awesome too! I need to find something like that in France or Italy (outside the major cities) someday away from the tourist crush.

"Which then leads me to wonder how some makers convince people to actually buy so-called "kitchen knives" made from 5/16" thick farrier rasps, with worn teeth still intact ("shred garlic on your knife!") and entirely non-ergonomic handles. Then I remember that the buying public is easily moved by "a good story" more than a good product...."

Sounds a lot like carnival hucksterism to me.

I had the fortunate/unfortunate experience of meeting a similar personality at the Arkansas Guild show who was accusing other knifemakers of stealing "HIS" knife design. Just because he wasn't aware of what other knifemakers were doing didn't make his knife "unique". Of course, those were all made by previous generations too.

Thankfully, he left the custom knifemaking business when enough fleeced customers ruined his reputation.

Regarding farriers, some of them are real artisans with a forge and make some really nice working knives.