Silver, second only to the sun-like warmth of gold, has strong lunar associations. Its white, reflective appearance symbolises purity and has long been seen as an antidote to various maladies. In folklore, it can defeat both vampires and werewolves, and in reality the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, first noticed its healing properties; it was used before the discovery of antibiotics to treat wounds, even as recently as WWI.

First coined in Greece, silver has become intrinsically linked to money – the word for ‘silver’ and ‘money’ is the same in fourteen languages and in the ancient world it was regarded as more valuable than gold becuase it was apparently rarer.

Silver is light and malleable, yet strong; it is also the best known reflector of light, furthering its lunar associations.

At TygerGlyn, many of the jewellers work using fine silver, which is 99.9% pure and softer like gold, unlike the more commonly found sterling silver, which is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper.

Silver is usually highly polished, but here at TygerGlyn the silver jewellery is more often textured by hammering and or sandblasting, revealing the natural beauty of the silver itself.

Sterling silver tarnishes quite easily and it is recommended that it is kept in an airtight container as a prevention. Depending on the surface texture of silver jewellery there are various different ways to clean it which will not remove the surface. This varies from piece to piece and if in doubt, please ask.


Orchid bracelet by Elizabeth Galton
'Fragment' necklace by Kayo Saito