Silver Earrings

20th Century

Major discoveries of Silver in the US include Nevada, Colorado and Utah. The modern center of fine Silverwork is the city of Taxco in Mexico. William Spratling, an American, revived it there and began training Silversmiths in 1931. Along with the jewelers of the Aesthetic period, the craftsman of the Arts and Crafts Movement (1894-1923) also rebelled against the mass produced jewelry that dominated the time. Silver was their metal of choice and they combined it with uncut stones and cabochons. The quality of most of the pieces from this movement was low, because

for the most part, jewelry makers from this period were untrained novices. The best jewelry of the Arts and Crafts Movement came from C.R. Ashbee, Henry Wilson, and Harold Stabler, Liberty & Co., Charles Horner's, and Murrle, Bennet & Co. Coinciding with the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Art Nouveau period (1890-1915) drew design inspiration from the new cultures encountered during the period's colonialism. Louis Comfort Tiffany was one of the best known Art Nouveau Jewelry designers. During the Retro Period 1935-1949. Silver became less available to jewelers because of the war in Europe and as the period began to close, American jewelers began to become more popular because of their rising dominance of American pop culture. In 1963, the US stopped issuing silver certificates, which up until then had supported the paper currency and by 1968, the Silver certificates were no longer redeemable for Silver. Silver use in coins had also decreased significantly by this time.

Sterling-Silver is 92.5% Silver and 7.25% Copper. Sterling Silver is popular for use in Jewelry because if its characteristics of light color, strength and malleability. It is usually marked "Sterling," "925" or "SS."