Written by Nicole Štěch

It has never sought to be ostentatious. Unlike gold, it has never needed to announce that its wearer spent a fortune on it – and yet it has always carried value. In many ways, it is now reshaping how the world thinks about value itself. When currencies fluctuate and markets grow anxious, precious metals regain their symbolic weight – not only as investments, but as a form of reassurance. In this context, silver behaves differently from gold: it is more democratic, more accessible, and far less burdened by status.

In a world balancing on the edge of geopolitical tension, economic uncertainty, and technological transformation – where certainties are dissolving, borders are being redrawn, and stability has become a state of mind – silver is quietly yet confidently returning to financial markets and to our jewellery boxes. Investors often turn to it as a refuge, while consumers increasingly seek authenticity. The fact that silver is generally more accessible than gold allows for greater experimentation, and we are witnessing a gradual shift in consumer preferences toward attainable luxury jewellery.

According to the World Silver Survey, investment demand for physical silver returned toward the end of 2024 and continued to strengthen throughout 2025. This has, to a certain extent, affected both availability and the perception of silver as a valuable material. One of the key fundamentals of the current market is a long-term supply deficit. For several years now, demand has consistently exceeded supply. Although silver is a recyclable material, both mining output and recycling volumes are increasing only gradually. This means that any additional buying pressure from investors or industry can have a disproportionate impact on prices – costs that, at the very end of this chain, are ultimately borne by the consumer.

According to The RealReal’s 2024 Resale Report, both average order values and average resale prices for fine jewellery rose by 7%, signalling that shoppers are willing to spend more on pieces that retain their value regardless of the economic climate. In 2025, this trend continued: average selling prices for fine jewellery jumped by 17% year over year, during a period of even greater economic uncertainty. Silver jewellery as a trend had been steadily gaining momentum, and this year it reached a boiling point. Average selling prices are at their highest level ever. Chrome Hearts jewellery saw an 82% increase in average selling prices. Sales and average selling prices for Tiffany & Co. also hit record highs, driven by some of the house’s cult favourites: sales of bracelets (particularly the trending Bone Cuff), charm bracelets, and vintage necklaces (specifically Elsa Peretti’s Bean collection) rose by 30%, 21%, and 27% respectively, according to the Resale Report.

It was not always in demand. Until the 1970s, a simple hierarchy prevailed: gold equalled luxury, silver a cheaper alternative. When Elsa Peretti began collaborating with Tiffany & Co. in 1974, she made a bold decision: she built her iconic designs primarily around silver, rather than gold or gemstones. It was she, more than anyone else, who established silver as a principal material for luxury jewellery at Tiffany & Co. Peretti rehabilitated silver in the eyes of the luxury world, giving it a new language – modern, organic and intuitive – and proved that the value of a jewel lies not in the material itself, but in how it is worn and the feeling it evokes. Luxury no longer had to live its life locked away in vaults; it became something wearable, intended for everyday life. Silver allowed for sculptural design on a larger scale, was more accessible in price, and therefore opened luxury to a broader audience. Jewellery ceased to be an investment artefact and became part of everyday life.

Peretti changed the way women wear jewellery. For the house, she designed more than thirty collections, a creative process that involved travels to Japan, China and across Europe, where she drew inspiration from local craftsmanship as well as from the study of modern art – paying homage in her work to figures such as Alexander Calder and Henry Moore. Her designs were organic, inspired by the human body and nature, stripped of ornamentation and excess. Equally revolutionary was her decision to set diamonds in silver, turning diamond jewellery into something women bought for themselves. They no longer waited to be gifted it. Peretti radically shifted that mindset.

It is no coincidence that both designers and consumers are turning to silver jewellery right now. It acts like armour for everyday life – pieces worn long-term, layered and intuitively. In a world where everything is accelerating, silver offers something rare: continuity. And perhaps that is precisely why it feels so relevant today.

Alexander Calder also worked with silver across both sculpture and jewellery. One need only recall Silver Bedhead, which he created for Peggy Guggenheim. He experimented with the material in his iconic kinetic mobiles, and with the same sensitivity he designed jewellery as well. Over the course of his lifetime, he created more than 1,800 pieces, many of them fashioned from copper, nickel and silver wire. At the opposite end of the artistic spectrum – yet equally crucial in shaping how we understand silver today as a fashion and design material – stands Georg Jensen. The Danish designer founded his own silversmith workshop in Copenhagen as early as 1904 and, within a few decades, became synonymous with sophisticated Scandinavian design. From the very early years of his workshop, he created new, organic and abstract jewellery and objects that were not imitations of the past, but entirely new forms accessible to a broader circle of wearers. Though conceived as luxury design, they were at the same time democratic in spirit.