Dining in Style at the Silver Vaults

When his owner went to see the Cook’s Kitchen selling exhibition of
silver at the London Silver Vaults (opened 3 October) there was a little
culinary treat waiting outside for Nelson the bulldog. Served in a silver bowl
of course. Well the Silver Vaults is the biggest antique silver shop in the world.

Silver and A Special Relationship

What do Goldie Hawn, Joan Rivers and Barbara Walters have in common? A great sense of humour? Not sure about Barbara. Well in fact they are all American girls who at various times popped over from the US and dropped into the London Silver Vaults in Chancery Lane to do a little silver shopping. They are amongst generations of Americans who first began this special relationship with English quality silver after the war, when many GIs were still stationed here. At that time us Brits were still trying to get some rationed butter to put on our rationed bread, rather than splashing out on a shiny lifestyle. We have caught up a bit now and rather like a dash of glamorous silver about the home.

Meanwhile, also discovering the appeal of English silver is another American, the young editor of An American Girl in Chelsea, the ‘chic guide for American women in London’. She particularly likes the Silver Vaults for wedding gifts to get away from that Wedding List sameyness. And she is rather taken with some of the antique culinary silver that is in the next selling exhibition at the Vaults in The Cook’s Kitchen show, starting in October.

Desserts Boum!

Cocktails are so yesterday declares
that style maitresse Harpers Bazaar this month
because it seems the ‘fashion crowd now head
to one of London’s chic dessert bars for a rendezvous.’
Could it be that one of their researchers popped into
the London Silver Vaults off Midtown’s Chancery Lane
and saw the Just Desserts exhibition of silver that no
self respecting dessert hostess could ignore. So when
you’ve sampled the English liqueurs and ice-cream
at the Waldorf Astoria or been colour blocked by
Ladurees macaroons in their new salon in Covent Garden, you
can try your hand at dessert parties at home. Just don’t forget
a dash of silver. And by the way, according to that uber sylist,
Wallpaper magazine, macaroons are, je regrette, a little passé,
it’s now the turn of the cream puff or chou à la crème. First stop
café Popelini, rue Debelleyrne in Paris, of course.
Just Desserts selling exhibiton June to end September 2011. Catalogue

SAVE OUR SILVER HALLMARKS

The ‘Red Tape Challenge’ launched by the Government on 7 April is designed to do away with any superfluous rules and regulations that make commerce more difficult than necessary. One of the regulations being ‘challenged’ is the requirement for all precious metals to be tested independently for adequate metal content. This is known as hallmarking, the name derived from the first assay office, Goldsmith’s Hall in London. (The London Silver Vaults's logo (shown) depicts the current London hallmark,
the leopard's head.

As reported in this week’s Antiques Trade Gazette (21 April 2011) the Birmingham and London Assay Offices have countered the ‘challenge’ to hallmarking with an appeal for people to log onto the Government Red Tape Challenge site and make their objections known. You have until 5 May 2011.

There are aleady more comments logged on this subject than for changing the Sunday Trading laws.

Rather than stifling enterprise, the independent hallmarking of precious metals carried out by Assay offices, could be claimed to promote enterprise and industry because it guarantees a consistent level of quality for gold and silver objects. A silversmith today who produces a silver object such as a vase or a set of cutlery, just like British silversmiths since the end of the 12 century, submits their work to be assayed. This way the ultimate purchaser is guaranteed silver of the required 92.5 per cent proof sterling silver quality which cannot be confused with inferior silver, silver plate, chrome, nickel or any base metal.

The customer is also told through the various ‘marks’ who made the piece, what date it was made and where it was assayed. It is one of the cleverest methods of quality control in manufacture and has contributed to British silver’s unrivalled reputation throughout the world. People who shop at the London Silver Vaults, for instance, know everything they buy there is as described by its hallmarks. Whether silver is antique or modern, it carries its history with it. This protects both silversmith, retailer and customer and should not be changed.

Silver value doubles in a year

According to Kitco www.kitcosilver.com the web page for investors in precious metals, silver doubled in value over the last year. To be precise it rose 122 per cent to where it sits now at around $40 an ounce or nearly £25. Metals and particularly gold, which now fetches a mind boggling $1400 or so an ounce, are seen as a good hedge against weak currencies and general economic turbulence.

Vintage silver objects such as one can buy at the UK’s biggest retailer of
antique silver, the London Silver Vaults are currently remarkably good value ounce for ounce against their bullion counterparts. But the strength of silver bars is likely to pull up the price of handmade or manufactured silver as demand for silver increases. So now might be the time to add some silver loveliness to the home and watch your possession become even shinier.

Jewellery Ideas for Mum on April 3

The London Silver Vaults in Chancery Lane (open Monday thru Saturday till 1pm) is not only ‘the home of silver shopping’ with lots of ideas for adding a dash of silver to your kitchen dining area but is also home to specialist jewellery shops and jewellery collections. A new collection, exclusive in London to Nat Leslie at Vault 21 (Tel 0207 242 4787) is from award winning Scottish jewellery designer Sheila Fleet. Sheila’s designs for earrings and necklaces draw on her Orkney land- and seascapes. The 2011 ‘moonlight’ collection at Nat Leslie’s features pretty opals on ripples of silver or gold for necklaces and earrings, evocative of the moon reflecting on water. Another very simple silver necklace with pendants is entitled ‘slate standing stones’. Anthony Green Antiques and Wolfe Jewellery (Tel 020 7405 2101)at the Silver Vaults specialise in vintage watches and jewellery and Belmont Jewellers has lots of ideas (and discounts) for Mother’s Day gifts. Open daily from 9am to 5.30pm, Saturday 9am until 1pm. Tel: 020 7242 3844. Nearest Tube Chancery Lane

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!