By the late nineteenth century nutcrackers could be sold singly or in boxed sets with grape scissors. In 1897, Mappin Brothers sold boxes of two nut cracks and a pair of grape scissors with ivory handles for £2 8s.
These nutcrackers are an example of close plated work which was a method used, particularly by the cutlery industry, to apply a silver surface to a base metal. The steel nutcrackers were immersed in a flux of sal ammoniac, dipped in molten tin and covered in a thin silver foil. A hot soldering iron was applied to the surface, melting the tin under the silver foil and fusing the silver to the steel. Bubbles of rust on the underlying tin have caused the plating to lift. On exposure to the air, the tin has tarnished black.

Manufacturing close plate was laborious and time-consuming, but the industry did not collide directly with electroplate in the same way as Sheffield plate. Close plate workers specialised in making cutlery, scissors, and snuffers up until the early 20th century.