Splendid silver and silver jewelry art in Chinese history

Silverware and silver jewels were first made in China as early as 2,000 years ago. These appealing shining silver items played an essential role in people’s life.

Silver hair clasps

In ancient China, both men and women had long hair reaching down to their waist. To coil their hair up, they often used a hair clasp to fasten it.

At first, a hair clasp was made of ivory or jade with beautiful turquoise stones on the end. Later it was crafted with silver.

A silver hair clasp featured beautiful patterns of plants, animals, and flowers engraved on its surface, which usually symbolized good luck and expressed good wishes.

Silver hats

A Chinese Mongolian silver hat was crafted with silver threads and slices. The entire hat was decorated with emeralds, gems, coral, or pearls. More than 200 years ago, it was regarded as the best dower the parents could offer for their daughters.

Silver longevity locks

A longevity lock was a kind of neckband worn by children to wish for a happy and long life in ancient times. It originated from a colorful silk band worn around the arms to drive away evil spirits. About 300 years ago, silver was used to make a longevity lock which sported a chaplet with some silver danglers dropping from it.

These danglers varied a lot in shape. Some were like a real lock, and others looked like butterflies. The pronunciation of the word of butterfly in the Chinese language is the same as that of longevity.

Silver rings

Rings in Chinese literally mean “restraint on fingers.” In ancient times, rings were worn by a woman to show that she was owned by her husband.

Later this bossy meaning gradually faded. A ring became a piece of unique silver jewelry popular with common women.

A Chinese silver ring is usually engraved with patterns of animals, flowers, and plants. Sometimes it’s embellished with colorful bells or gems.

Very rarely, a silver ring includes three, four, or even nine rings linked together. Wearing them on your fingers is sure to get lots of attention.

To read more about Chinese silver jewelry, visit this site with some fantastic sterling silver jewelry!