Why buy gold when silver is so chic?

Silver is seducing us once more, slipping back on to mantelpieces and shimmering around necks. “It creates a sense of refinement, effortlessness and faded grandeur,” says interior designer Georgie Stogdon – who has swapped out her gold jewellery for an earful of silver hoops. “The reflective tone can feel cool in newer pieces, but it’s that sharpness that gives it sophistication. Mixed with warmer materials, it can be tempered to create a balanced space.” 

Heritage silversmith brands have long built legacies on the precious metal, crafting decorative keepsakes that are now in the spotlight once again. At Tiffany & Co, artistic director of its Home collection Lauren Santo Domingo has refreshed five pieces from the updated Bamboo collection, launched in 1961. First used as a pattern for coffee spoons, the latest offering sees the motif on vases, placecard holders and adorning napkin rings.

Italian jewellery and silverware brand Buccellati has just showcased a collection of intricate woodland animals – some lifesize – as part of its Naturalia exhibition at Milan Design Week. Global communications director Maria Cristina Buccellati says there’s a creature for every environment – “a deer in the dining room of a country manor or a small sparrow on the coffee table of an apartment”. Meanwhile French silversmithing house Christofle, established in 1830, has spent the past two years working with jewellery designer Charlotte Chesnais on Carrousel. The 24-piece set of flatware embodies the curving forms characteristic of Chesnais’s jewellery. “Silver flatware is something you choose for life,” says the designer, who from the age of 18 was gifted small sets of silver cutlery each year. “Now I can host a dinner for eight with a full exquisite set.”

Buccellati silver Furry fawn, £18,000

Vintage c1960 silver-plated trinket box, £450, studiomantel.co.uk

Sadie Perry, who trained as a silversmith in Mexico, sources vintage modernist objects ranging from mirrors to coupes to showcase in her Hackney store, Studio Mantel. “Art deco, modernism and secessionist movements are being referenced a lot in silver at the moment,” says Perry. “They favoured cleaner lines that altered the way the material was used in everyday objects – from overly decorative to pared-down.” 

Icy sterling silver is a symbol of new beginnings

Detailed or spare, silver remains a classic choice for celebrating milestones. “Antique silver, whether a truffle knife or trinket dish, offers a charming way to honour the ‘something old’ wedding tradition,” says Bryony Sheridan, buying director at Abask, which handpicks antique and contemporary pieces from makers around the world. The designs themselves can also hold symbolic meanings that add to the romance. “Silver objects have long been associated with purity and timeless beauty, making them perfect emblems of love and commitment,” says Ippolita Rostagno, founder and creative director of Artemest. She points to Braganti’s Swan centrepiece that “embodies devotion – just like swans, who are known for their lasting bond”. Sheridan favours the symbolism of knots – “a powerful expression of unbreakable love” – finding a set of knotted cocktail picks by silversmith Heath Wagoner particularly sweet. 

Along with homeware, jewellery too is becoming cooler in tone. Over the past six months, Net-a-Porter has seen searches for silver rings increase by 527 per cent, and silver cuffs by 438 per cent. Last year, jewellery brand Alighieri launched its first silver-focused collection, Votive Offerings, which takes alluring skeletal forms. Alighieri’s founder, Rosh Mahtani, sees the series of modern heirlooms as a sort of rebirth – “the icy sterling silver was a symbol of new beginnings”, she says. Meanwhile, Hermès will be adding new silver pieces to its studded Clou d’H series of necklaces, earrings, cuffs and rings. 

Hermès Clou d’H silver ear cuff, £650

Braganti silver swan centrepiece, £6,750, artemest.com

Tiffany & Co silver Bamboo place-card holder, POA

Hamilton & Inches Britannia silver and gilt large aura vase, £2,995

With gold prices soaring, young designers are turning to silver for its affordability, which allows for more experimentation. “It enables designers to play with larger, more sculptural pieces and, in turn, for wearers to express individuality through bold designs,” says German-Brazilian designer Carolina de Barros, whose organic pieces are crafted using the ancient technique of lost-wax casting. Recently, de Barros has noticed her clients gravitate towards statement pieces such as her Figo ear cuffs and rings, which have a scrunched effect. 

Freer forms are possible thanks to silver’s malleability, which also lends itself to texture. Aura, the latest collection of vases, bowls and coasters by the historic Edinburgh-based brand Hamilton & Inches, takes inspiration from Scotland’s rugged seascape and features a diagonal planishing technique achieved using a special hammer to create wave-like indentations. “Planishing is a highly personal process, so no two silversmiths approached this collection in the same way,” says its CEO Victoria Houghton. “As a result, each one crafted their own set to ensure consistency.” 

For incorporating silverware into both modern and traditional spaces, Stogdon suggests adding small accents through accessories such as candlesticks or a 19th-century rose bowl. “They can be a chic focal point on a table without feeling overwhelming,” she says. The designer herself has a collection of antique pieces picked up at auctions or passed down by family. “They’re not the biggest or boldest,” she says, “but they’re the ones that have meaning, and always will.”