Silver Antique of the Week: Statement Gems

The London style magazines during Fashion Week were showcasing statement gems that incorporate tutti-frutti clusters of contrasting coloured stones. In keeping with the vibrant colour-blocking going on this Spring in clothes and interiors, jewellery too has got in on the act. Jewellery houses and high street fashion shops are offering over-the-top earring, necklace, ring and bangle styles with mix & match groups of gems; amethyst, topaz, peridot – the brighter the better. Several dealers at The London Silver Vaults feature beautiful jewellery. We found this particular 18ct white gold vintage ring set with a crazy cluster of pearls, coloured diamonds Citrine. Topaz, Pink Sapphire and Amethyst at Anthony Green Antiques. It’s a 1970s cocktail ring. We think it rocks!

Breakfast and a dash of silver

Weekend brunches are as popular as ever at restaurants, but why not aim to enjoy your own ‘five star’ breakfast at home each weekend by snapping up some traditional silver tableware for a bit of extra style?

A new selling exhibition at the London Silver Vaults in London’s Chancery Lane is on now until the end of May 2011 and has all the items you could think of, and some you will never have heard of, for a proper 'full English'.

Expect to find lots of tea- and coffee pots, familiar Old English style silver cutlery, toast racks, butter knives, butter dishes and jam pots. More suprising is the 1930s rollover silver dish for keeping the cooked food warm, an insulated Argyll jug for keeping liquids warm, spoon warmers and egg coddlers, little silver combo sets for boiled eggs with a spoon and bowl for the salt and pepper and even modern silver tops for Marmite and ketchup jars.

Breakfast and particularly teapots seem to have inspired the silversmith's flights of fancy over the years. Moving into the surreal there is a very rare tea-set of teapot, jug and sugar bowl all in the shape of chickens (see pic). Another tea-set is shaped like garden snails. For the coffee drinkers there are pretty, lemon coloured ceramic espresso cups with silver saucers, designed in 2005 or cafe au lait pots in hammered silver from the turn of the century Arts & Crafts era. Rise and Shine - Silver at the Breakfast table is on until the end of May in the downstairs foyer of the 30 shops at the London Silver Vaults in Chancery Lane, London WC2, a few hundred yards from Chancery Lane Tube.
Prices are from £45 to £4,500 with most items under £500.

TOP FIVE VINTAGE SILVER VALENTINE PICKS

Here’s our top five picks for Valentine’s Day gifts from the London Silver Vaults’ cast of thousands. Buy her some gorgeous, colourful chunky jewellery. Try Belmont William Walter or Wolfe for semi-precious and precious stones in silver and gold settings as rings, necklaces or bracelets. shown here Seed pearls, peridot and gold earrings and bracelet by Wolfe Buy her pretty enamelled perfume bottles, hand mirrors, picture frames or trinket boxes in bright fruit drop colours at Linda Jackson, Choose a mirror or picture frame. Virtually every dealer has silver frames, heart shapes for her, ships for him. Three unusual picture frames by Barry Collins. The choice is huge.



For him there are vintage watches from all the big watch brands like, Rolex, Omega, or Patek Philippe. This stunning Omega Constellation with a solid gold waterproof casing in its original 1950s red leather box is from Anthony Green. And also for him a glass and silver claret jug is both a sophisticated object to own and a great way to accessorise the Shiraz. Most of the dealers sell these and Stephen Kalms has some very striking examples from the 19th and 20th centuries. Find the contact details for all the dealers and their specialities under Shop Details on the Silver Vaults website.

UNIQUE SILVER GIFTS FOR WEDDINGS

For couples getting married in 2011 here's a thought for putting a little sparkle into the wedding list. Once you've settled on the shop for the pots and pans take yourselves off to the London Silver Vaults in London's historic legal centre, Chancery Lane and dive into an Aladdin's cave of silvery things that would look just fabulous whether you are starting in a prefab or a palace.

You could set up a wedding list with one of the cutlery specialists. Then guests can buy into a clasically sleek 'English pattern' cutlery set a fork at a time. Or what about silver goblets? You can get C20th matching sets or you could ask people to put their giving towards six individual Georgian or Victorian goblets. Or choose a silver and cutglass claret jug and suggest fractional contributions until you have the whole thing.

And if there is one item where silver really scores in the home setting it is candlesticks or candelabra. Candlelight reflecting off silver is quite stunning. Vintage or modern can be found at the Silver Vaults at prices from around £180 depending on style and date.

The added attraction of vintage silver, apart from its good looks, is that every piece is unique and carries its own built-in sign of quality and authenticity through the hallmark stamps. These denote maker, date and place of creation. So extra special ways to choose a gift of silver can be to buy a picture frame for example that was made the year one of you was born or the date your parents married or your grandparents; you can of course buy new silver with this year's hallmark date stamp. And most silver items can be engraved with your initials or a wedding day message.

If you can't get to London, there are ideas galore to be had through the websites of the dealers at the London Silver Vaults.

Silver Gifts for Him and Her

Only two shopping days left before Christms but if you have still to buy a present for your significant other try the London Silver Vaults, (Chancery Lane Tube), for inspiration. Here you can buy gifts that you won't find on the High Street because nearly every item for sale is unique, certainly the older silver treasures are. Have a look at our two pages of gift ideas. For Her there are silver candlesticks, picture frames and pretty silver boxes aswell as items for the Christmas table and entertaining. For Him we suggest silver claret jugs, collectables like smokers accessories, and beautifully designed modern silver desk sets. The 30 shops at The London Silver Vaults are open until 5.30pm Thursday 23rd and on Christmas Eve.

The Cocktail Hour. Party Silver and Christmas Gift Ideas

There will be plenty of gorgeous silver on display in The London Silver Vaults’ Cocktail Hour exhibition which runs from October until the end of January 2011. The silver in the exhibition can all be bought from the dealers in the Vaults.

So get ready to dazzle your guests with silver goblets from Victorian times or stunning double ended wine coolers from the Georgian era. Mix your cocktails in a 1930s recipe cocktail shaker or stir those Martinis with gilt, gold or silver swizzle sticks. And get in the mood for partying with ‘dress’ jewellery for Him and Her. The carriage clock is set for 6 o’clock – The Cocktail Hour!

The London Silver Vaults is open to shoppers six days a week, 9 - 5.30pm daily and 9 - 1pm Saturdays. Nearest Tube: Chancery Lane. Buses from Oxford Street. www.thesilvervaults.com

Silver nutmeg graters spice up auction world

An important international collection of antique silver nutmeg graters has recently been sold at auction, with some items fetching premium prices, reports the Antiques Trade Gazette These charmingly small collector’s items come in some unusual forms, such as a strawberry, a clam shell, an acorn, even a cup and cover – it was these unusual shapes which fetched the highest prices at the auction, held by Lawrence’s of Crewkerne (UK).

At the London Silver Vaults, the current specialist selling exhibition of silver boxes includes several fine examples of nutmeg graters, such as this 1881 melon-shaped grater and an egg shaped nutmeg holder dating back to 1793, both from Gideon Cohen at the Vaults

The ATG helpfully provides a bit of history about nutmeg graters, explaining how it was the fashion for punch that occasioned the onset of nutmeg mania in the C17th, and the manufacture of the now highly collectable silver smallwork, the pocket nutmeg grater. Throughout the following two centuries, as the upper echelons of society imbibed the exotic mix of lime, spices and alcohol, it became de rigeur to carry about the person a vessel to store one or more kernels and pep the brew with shavings of the sweet rich nut.

The most expensive nutmeg grater sold in the auction was an early C19th silver gilt example by Philip Rundell which included the cipher of King George IV – it fetched a sum approaching five figures. You can read more about the nutmeg grater collection in this weeks Antiques Trade Gazette (cover date 7 August 2010).