Sterling silver is, by no means, a poor choice of a precious metal. Yes, its price, if you’re speaking in such squarely valuative terms, is low compared to gold, platinum and palladium. But silver, which has for a long time been in the arsenal of jewellers and artists, has its own unique and enduring appeal. Silver jewellery is coming to the fore at the moment, and options are aplenty.
It bears admitting that we live in dissonant times. A backdrop of political uncertainty—looming trade wars, a disconcerting backslide to conservatism—has caused the price of gold to soar and peak to record heights. The reason is simple: gold, while a thing of beauty, is also quite literally currency. It is what’s dubbed a safe haven asset and one which history has shown, though it may dip and ebb at times, only appreciates in the long run.
This change is being felt in big ways in the jewellery industry, where precious metals are most obviously and visibly used. As central banks and treasuries hoard and sweep gold bullion, demand and consequently price has grown. Gold jewellery, as a result, has gotten more expensive and is more than likely to continue in such a manner.
That leaves a unique opening and opportunity for silver, which is much more accessible, to shine. Before the invention of alloyed 18-carat white gold or the mastery of platinum, silver was in fact the white precious metal of choice for jewellers. In antique designs, for instance, you might find a combination of silver and yellow gold. The latter used in the undersides, and the former used on top to set diamonds. One reason was a more varied, creative colour palette. Another reason was, simply and effectively, to enhance the whiteness of diamonds.
These gold and silver techniques are mostly lost these days and the application of silver as jewellery has evolved greatly. The designer most responsible perhaps for reigniting a favour for the precious metal was the late great Elsa Peretti. When she joined the American jeweller Tiffany & Co. in 1974, the firm might have had a sense but not quite the exact picture of the revolution she would cause.
Peretti debuted her first collection for Tiffany & Co. in September 1974. Her pieces sold out on the very day. Peretti had presented sterling silver jewels—the first pieces she’d shown Tiffany’s were early versions of her bone cuff and bottle pendant, prime examples of the curved, biomorphic shapes that would define her creative style. More than mere pieces of product, what Peretti achieved in a decisive flash was the reinstatement of silver as luxury. Luxury not for its hard, value-minded qualities—rather a luxury of design, creativity, sensitivity and the ability to evoke a feeling.
Peretti described her silver jewels, set at an accessible price point, as such: “I design for the working girl.” And indeed silver began to re-enter the lexicon of daily jewellery which is as beautiful as it is democratic. In fact, Tiffany & Co. maintains, in part due to its heritage as a leading silversmith, one of the broadest collections of fine silver jewellery around. It’s said that, internally, the brand thinks of sterling as a generosity, an avenue of approach and welcome for all—a scarcity of kindness these days as luxury maisons and brands teeter on whether they still care for an aspirational middle class.
One other way that silver is seeing a major resurgence is in the collections of fashion jewellery. More specifically, how fashion houses are noticeably upgrading and improving their lines from plated and coloured brass to proper, solid sterling. It makes sense in a post-quiet (or subtle or discreet—choose your adjective) luxury boom where there is a renewed attention from customers on quality and savoir-faire. There is a hunger for at least some material justification these days and silver fills a sweet spot that is precious without being prohibitive.
The leaders in this field at the moment are Loewe and Bottega Veneta, unsurprisingly both brands that put craftsmanship at the forefront. Take, for instance, the bulbous Drop earrings introduced by Bottega Veneta in 2022 that have quietly become a cult design. These sculptural earrings are statement-sized, even in the smallest options. And though the brand has since introduced an exclusive range of gold fine jewellery with similarly chunky profiles, it would seem that the design influences have trickled up, not down.
Loewe pushed forward in silver around the time that Jonathan Anderson began to collaborate with the American sculptor and artist Lynda Benglis. Warped, pleated, extruded, coloured and set with crystals, the Spanish house created a line of silver jewels drawn almost directly from Benglis’s sculptures. The results resist the look of traditional status symbol jewellery and exist rather as a kind of wearable art.
Crafting artist-related or partnered jewellery in silver seems, in fact, like one way that fashion brands are bridging the gap between costume and fine jewellery. At Celine, the Parisian maison started an under-the-radar artist jewellery programme in 2020 that reimagines the works of avant-garde sculptors as wearable art. A crushed, compressed totemic pendant by César; a miniaturised Louise Nevelson assemblage as a silver and oak wood necklace; and most recently an abstract biomorphic necklace based on a Jean Arp sculpture. Silver, then, takes on a sheen of luxury as a material for highbrow art and design.
Of course, silver thrives in demi-fine jewellery, a category that is increasingly popular for easy, affordable everyday pieces. The key is to ask for sterling silver, or look to ensure that pieces are stamped and hallmarked—most commonly with ‘925’—as an assurance of the precious metal. Within demi-fine jewellery, you’ll often see designs in vermeil, which is a method of plating silver with genuine gold to give it a colour or lustre.
There are international brands, such as APM Monaco and Monica Vinader, that offer distinct points of view. With APM Monaco, a kind of Monte Carlo vision of unfettered, breezy chic. In the brand’s latest spring and summer collections, zirconia-set palm and raindrop designs evoke the season’s energy. At Monica Vinader, meanwhile, a more city-chic approach to style staples that stack well together.
But the most exciting thing about demi-fine jewellery at the moment might be the strength and vibrancy of homegrown brands. One that’s interesting for the specificity of its look is Ask & Embla, which designs neo-gothic adornments for a pierced and tatted kind of wearer. It’s an alternative aesthetic, to be sure, though the brand’s simpler designs and a new blackletter charm collection make its styles approachable.
On the other end of an aesthetic spectrum are homegrown demi-fine jewellery brands that are becoming something of an established mall presence.
For example, Curious Creatures, with a flagship at Ion Orchard, is a popular name here. In addition to a range of staples, such as zodiac pendants, stacking rings, and ear studs and cuffs, the brand was also one of the first to popularise permanent jewellery (bracelets welded on, with no clasp) here. There is By Invite Only, with seven well-located boutiques in the central districts as well as key heartland malls, that combines delicate styles with a smattering of international influences. And there is Tessellate Co, a brand that graduated from independent maker fairs to a flagship showroom at Wheelock Place, that deals in the style and look of elegant, understated fine jewellery.
And though silver has a beautiful approachability and accessibility that speaks to innate desires to adorn ourselves, it also represents a level of fineness in ambition and quality. To wit: all the Singaporean brands named here with collections of demifine designs also offer small ranges of 18-carat gold fine jewellery on request. Go for gold if you wish, but don’t overlook silver and its qualities.
Vogue Singapore’s April ‘Movement’ issue is out on newsstands and available online.
