The precious metal has a rich global history dating back to prehistoric times. Extraction techniques to separate silver from its ores developed around the fourth millennium BC, securing its enduring value for use as currency, cutlery, crockery, cultural ornaments and personal adornments.
While gold is generally considered the benchmark for fine jewellery, its price is at an all-time high of around HK$44,000 (US$5,657) per tael, driving consumers to look elsewhere.
Sterling silver has long been appreciated for its shine, strength, accessibility and in certain areas, spiritual significance. Today’s designers continue to work with it to create luxury pieces that feel like art, honour silversmithing traditions and reinterpret historical designs.
Addressing the former is Sophie Buhai, a Los Angeles-based designer reviving the modernist tradition in jewellery and blurring the lines between sculpture, adornment and object with her eponymous label. Working mostly with sterling silver, she has produced minimalist designs with maximalist effect since 2015.
“[My jewellery] looked so different from what was on the market,” she says, referring to the daintier styles in gold and brass finishes popular a decade ago. “Fashion [today] has become more minimal with this idea of quiet luxury. Silver works well with subdued silhouettes and colours.”
Buhai also equates the shift in interest to consumers wanting “humble materials” and pieces with greater ideas. “That’s what people are finding in luxury – not wearing the bank vault, but having the taste for wearable sculpture. It’s an intellectual pursuit.”
For Aina Petrova, that pursuit runs deep with her desire to share the culture of the Sakha people (a Turkic ethnic group native to northern Siberia) via modern ethnic designs with her Prague-based label Ursuuna.
“Silver has always been used in jewellery and attire for spiritual protection,” she says. “Learning to shape it feels almost like speaking an old language, but in my own way.