SILVER-LUG Blog — 銀製品

"Salva" is a word that refers to a silver tray.
Among the trays (flat containers with a shallow bottom), only silver ones are called salva.
It was used by upper-class European families to carry cups and plates to the table, and by butlers to carry letters and cards to their masters.

Albert chain is a chain used to wear a pocket watch.

It is named after Prince Albert (1819-1861), husband of Queen Victoria of England (1837-1901).

It was developed not only for the practical purpose of attaching a pocket watch to clothing to prevent it from being dropped, but also as an accessory for British gentlemen to be worn stylishly.

A card case is a so-called "business card holder", but business cards in the antique era were not used for business as they are today, but were handed out at social occasions by people of the upper class.

Tiffany & Co. is one of the world's top five jewelers, along with Cartier, Bvlgari, Harry Winston, and Van Cleef & Abel. Currently, it is a global brand with more than 200 stores in 20 countries around the world as well as the United States.

Silver is a very soft metal.
100% silver is too soft and easily scratched or dented, making it vulnerable to abrasion.
Also, if it is too soft, there is a disadvantage that it is difficult to process such as engraving.
Therefore, it is common to mix pure silver with other metals to make it easy to process and durable, and use it as a silver alloy.

Silver products may become discolored when used for a long time.
The main cause of blackening is sulfide, which reacts with sulfur .
It gradually turns black by reacting with the trace amount of sulfur contained in the air, sweat, water, etc.
However, the blackening caused by sulfurization can be easily removed.

Cutlery is Western tableware such as knives, forks, and spoons used for meals.

In particular, silver cutlery beautifully decorated by silversmiths is a symbol of wealth and is a representative item of antique silver.

There may not be much image of cutlery in England today, but the cutlery industry developed mainly in Sheffield during the industrial revolution that started in the 18th century, and excellent cutlery was manufactured.

In the olden days, British gentlemen kept folding knives in their waistcoat pockets as a necessity, and there are still many folding knives left.

Plating (plating) is simply a technique of covering the surface of a target substance with a thin film.
Today, electroplating is the mainstream, so it feels somewhat new and unrelated to antiques, but it has a long history and there are many "plated" products among antiques.

One of the great attractions of antique silver is the elaborate and elegant decoration by silversmiths.

Most of the decorations on industrial products today are made by machines, but most of the decorations in those days were done by hand using tools such as chisels and hammers.