Fancy Silver Antique “Collar” chain, English 1880s/1890s, handmade, crafted to sit perfectly flat when worn, and crafted for a particular purpose, namely to carry a Silver momento locket, hung from the round spring clasp, which locket would contain some precious momento, an image of a loved one, or a lock of hair, or a pressed petal.
All 76 segments of the above Fancy Silver “Collar” chain are hand-engraved with a depiction of the ivy leaf, the English Victorian symbol of devotion. The English of the Victorian period were keen on symbolism in jewellery, on the idea of an implied message, the Lover’s Knot for commitment and eternal love, the fern for sincerity, the swallow for faithfulness.
The precision and concentration required to produce by hand, at a work bench, a Silver item of such perfection as the above Fancy Silver Antique, is simply remarkable. In reality, the late 1800s was the end of an era; in the West machinery was replacing handcraftsmanship, and if a machine could not replicate a piece such as this Silver “Collar”, then it was not made. The Arts and Crafts movement, begun in England in this period of the late 1800s, was a direct attempt to turn back the clock in artisanship, to provide a space for, and a market for, fine handcrafted work, be it in woodwork, jewellery, paper, cloth, whatever.

Note: the above Sterling Silver “Collar” has not a single stamp on it, anywhere; despite a perception that all English jewellery, be it Gold or Silver, should be “hallmarked”, it is not at all uncommon for that to be not so.