Silver on the mind
Mexican silver bracelets + a curated selection of shiny things
I hadn’t seen my friend Lisa for a year, and before we parted ways, she reminded me to make sure my silver bracelet collection went to her upon my death.
Ahem.
The collection’s not impressive nor is it worth much. It focuses on silver because that’s the metal I’m drawn to, especially now with grey hair. There are a few Navajo pieces from my grandmother, a Hopi bracelet from Mitch, several vintage Taxco pieces, a bracelet Mitch’s dad bought from a Colorado artist for my mother-in-law and some things I’ve purchased on eBay or the flea market. Having lived a life, I’ve amassed things I love and wear constantly.
But jewelry is never just jewelry. It’s sensual: the weight of it, the coolness against the skin, the sounds it makes, its beauty. If someone you loved gave you a piece that memory stays with it. Clothing carries the past, too, but there’s something about the solidity of the metal, do they hold an energetic charge? When I slip my bracelets on, they share their provenance like a language.
Years ago I wrote a New Agey story for The Denver Post about altars, which looked at how people were establishing altars in their homes as places to meditate or honor family. Traditionally in Denver, there are the ofrenda Hispanic and indigenous families build to remember their deceased loved ones on Dia de Los Muertos, and in my neighborhood, settled more than 100 years ago by many immigrant cultures — Italian and eventually Hispanic families — who adorned their gardens with statues of saints and the Virgin Mary. While the story I wrote was about the yogafication of personal, the larger idea behind altars is remembrance and reflection.
Jewelry is my altar.
Right now my necklace stack consists of my grandmother’s pearls, an amethyst-opal pendant I inherited when my mother-in-law passed away, a tiny Hamsa necklace given to me by a friend who knows I love it as a symbol of protection and strength, a necklace depicting my sun sign purchased from an immigrant collective here in Denver, a strand of purple fresh water pearls I strung myself, and a necklace from my Aunt Shelley with my first initial. Not only do I like the way these necklaces layer together but also, they’re reminders of people and things I adore. And, no I’m not about to share a photo of my necklaces accessorized by my 65-year-old wattle. Just no.
But that’s enough about jewelry’s semiotics. If we’re talking beauty, jewelry makes everyone look better. A pair of earrings adds light to the face, a lift, no surgery required. A dramatic bracelet can define a simple long-sleeve black dress by interrupting the darkness with something beautiful and compelling. A tangle of necklaces on a t-shirt instantly dresses it up.
I you have jewelry you always know what to wear. You wear it. Favorites first. The formula goes like this: Put on clothes + jewelry + more jewelry. Coco Chanel famously (and apocryphally) said, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.”
With those chonkers on her wrists, does La Grande Mademoiselle look like a woman given to restraint? Or someone who knows how to attract attention?
When the world opened up mid-pandemic and we were trying to remember how to dress, I leaned on my uniform – Levi’s 505s, a black turtleneck or t-shirt, lots of silver bracelets, a pair of great earrings, a vintage tuxedo jacket if there was a chill.
It’s the same now. Shirt, jacket/sometimes hand-knit sweater, pants, jewelry and fragrance always, even if it’s just an essential oil blend. If I’m without jewelry and fragrance, I’m in extremis.
The first time I saw Taxco
My mother was doing an antique show and no doubt bribed me to help. Bored on a slow afternoon, I wandered the show, fingering textiles and looking at history’s leavings, antique crystal vases, oil paintings, monstrous Victorian bedframes. I stopped at a jewelry case in a booth not far from my mom’s. Inside on the black velvet was the most flagrantly beautiful jewelry I had ever seen. The silverwork was ornate and referential but modern. The dealer was tall and well-groomed, older than me at the time, and explained that the pieces were vintage Taxco silver from Mexico. I probably pressed for more information, but she had already identified me as a non-buyer, her terseness making it clear she had no interest in educating me.
I searched eBay when I returned home. In its infancy eBay allowed antique dealers to reach wider audiences, and sure enough, a search on the site revealed a bonanza of stunning bracelets, necklaces, pins and earrings. Taxco jewelry prices in the late ‘90s were approachable and I suspect I entered an auction that day.
In gathering links for this post, I was both struck by the high prices and nonplussed that given the exorbatant price of silver currently, they weren’t higher.
My goal in purchasing these pieces was always esthetic. I thought they were gorgeous. I never cared about authenticity, purchasing pieces by named artists or an item’s potential to appreciate in value.
If you invest in jewelry then you’ll want to pay attention to markings indicating silver quality, provenance and artists signatures, understanding that forgeries exist. If I were ever to become a serious buyer, I’d get a couple of references such as The Little Book of Mexican Silver Trade and Hallmarks and read more about the major designers.
Much of the jewelry I’m talking about was produced from the 1920s through 1970s and runs the gamut from designs echoing the country’s pre-Columbian heritage to bold modernist pieces. Tied up with Colonialism, Mexico’s silver industry started in the 16th century when Spanish explorers found silver, using indigenous labor and enslaved black workers to mine the ore. Since I’m no expert in Mexican history or the Taxco School of Design, I hesitate to describe a history of work that appropriated cultural imagery while also fostering the careers of local designers including Hector Aguilar, Antonio Pineda, Sigi Pineda, Antonio Castillo, Margot de Taxco, among others.
I love Mexican silver because the pieces are handmade, esthetically diverse, patinaed and widely available. Search eBay, Ruby Lane, Etsy or Google to find dealers and shops that specialize in Mexican silver using search terms such as “Taxco silver jewelry,” “vintage Taxco silver jewelry,” “Mexican silver jewelry,” and so on. You can also find it in the wild at antique shows, vintage shops and markets, jewelry stores that carry antique and vintage pieces or your mother’s basement, which is where I scored some of my best pieces.
Here’s a mini bracelet collection below featuring pieces at a range of price points to get you started. Being an antique dealer scion, I suggest you don’t take retail price at face value. This is the time to play let’s make a deal. Online make reasonable offers. If working with someone in person, you can ask if the sticker price is firm or politely inqire if they can do a little better. Bottom line, they want to move merchandise and make a profit. They also want you to love it, too, like they did when they acquired it for their business.
Link 1 / Link 2 / Link 3 / Link 4 / Link 5 / Link 6 / Link 7 / Link 8 / Link
Obsessions
Beading. Twenty years ago or so, I got all the basic tools to strand beads and proceeded to make a lot of hideous necklaces and bracelets. I mostly stopped but occasionally pulled out my tools to fix a broken piece or make something as a gift. Over the last couple of years, I started following Jacqui G on Instagram (a stylist and jewelry hound) and became enamored of the gobstopper-sized beaded necklaces she’s collected from BaubleBar. In the same way the right scarf adds color to the face, so did these colorful necklaces. They aren’t expensive by any means, but any maker with a pair of plyers and some beading wire will have the same thought. “I can make this for half the price.”
I started slow with clear resin beads, initially stranding them on silk thread and hand knotting between each bead. When the end join failed and all my 12 mm pretties fell to the floor, I got out the beading wire and instead of the hand knotting, added tiny grey seed beads between the larger orbs. It turned out great, lackluster photo notwithstanding. And I’m dying to make more. If Bauble Bar is listening, I don’t plan on selling necklaces and burn out quickly on beading. Too hard on the eyes. Too hard to collect all the pieces parts.
Nailed it. I’m copying your necklace stack, but in gold…or “gold tone”. I was limiting myself to 3 but I think I might bravely move to 5, given your approach. 🤗
I love this post and fear you’ve sent me down a jingly jangly silver bangle bracelet rabbit hole, to which I say: thank you. I’d forgotten how much I’ve loved them.