Silver jewellery is having a moment — make it sculptural

My relationship with silver jewellery has been sporadic. When I was a teenager it was the only material I could afford and Kensington Market (a huge indoor space with many stalls that no longer exists) in London was my prime hunting ground for rings and earrings even though they lacked finesse and turned my skin green. I fell out of love with it as soon as my budget would allow, drawn to the more flattering warm hue of gold. But actually silver shouldn’t be ignored. Some of the most storied designers have worked in it, such as Elsa Peretti for Tiffany & Co and Henning Koppel for Georg Jensen. It’s more affordable than gold so lends itself to more sculptural jewellery. Case in point is the work of Meghan Griffiths and her brand Angharad Studio, inspired by ancient Welsh folklore — look to her fluid, organic shapes that seem to drip across the skin (no 6). Issy White’s one-of-a-kind necklace features a texture taken directly from the bark of a London plane tree (no 4), and 886 by the Royal Mint extracts and recycles silver from discarded hospital x-ray films, with the Royal Mint’s creative director, Dominic Jones, riffing on the institution’s heritage as coin maker with the Tutamen collection (no 8). Look to more fashion-forward brands for everyday options such as Mejuri’s Dôme cuff, which forms a lovely puffy bracelet around the wrist (no 9) or Monica Vinader’s flattering Nura wrap earrings (no 5). My younger self, scouring the stalls of Kensington Market, would have approved.