Antique Silver Choker
These antique silver choker options span periods from the Victorian era to the mid-century, offering distinct historical character for daily wear.
Antique Silver Choker
Shorter lengths and collar styles dominate this category, sitting high on the neck much like traditional chokers. The assortment ranges from engraved coin pieces to delicate pierced heart links and elaborate jewelled drops.
How they were made
Maker techniques rely upon solid sterling silver and silver construction, often enhanced with gilt finishes or combined with gold in specific period pieces. Metalwork incorporates piercing, engraving, and linking to create flexible chains, collars, and rigid buckle sections.
Gemstones and decorative components such as diamonds, paste glass, cultured pearls, lapis lazuli, and moonstones are integrated via bezel settings, prongs, or delicate drops. Enamel work and bead stringing also appear among the crafting methods utilised across these decades.
What varies in quality
Quality differences emerge through the intricacy of the metalwork, such as fine hand-engraving, precise pierced openwork, and the structural integrity of complex links and clasps. Superior examples display careful integration of decorative stones and well-matched pearls or beads.
The artistry of the specific style - ranging from the detailed wirework of Arts and Crafts pieces to the balanced proportions of Edwardian festoons - defines the upper tier of the range. Original fitted boxes and intact stones further distinguish finer items from simpler production.
Mikimoto
The Antique Silver Choker Glossary
- Collar
- A wide necklace designed to fit closely around the neck, often constructed from linked metal segments or multiple strands.
- Festoon
- A necklace style featuring a draped central chain or garland suspended from shoulders or collar points, frequently accented with drops.
- Paste glass
- Hand-cut and polished glass used to imitate gemstones in historic jewellery, valued for its own decorative merit.
- Albert chain
- A short chain traditionally worn by men in a waistcoat pocket, now frequently adapted and worn as a necklace.
Antique Silver Choker: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I style a silver choker?
Shorter silver neckwear sits high on the collarbone, making it suitable for pairing with open necklines or simpler garments that allow the metalwork and stones to remain visible.
Heavier collars and fringed designs work well as standalone statement pieces without competing necklaces.
What periods are represented here?
The inventory spans the Victorian and Edwardian eras, progressing through the nineteen-hundreds and nineteen-twenties into the mid-century.
Styles shift accordingly from ornate revival and Arts and Crafts aesthetics towards streamlined modernist and vintage classic forms.
Are these pieces made of solid silver?
Materials include silver, sterling silver, and silver gilt alongside pieces incorporating nine-carat gold and platinum settings for specific gemstones.
Each item utilises metal types characteristic of its specific period of origin.
What stones are set in these necklaces?
Common embellishments include diamonds, cultured pearls, moonstones, opals, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and rose quartz.
Paste glass also appears frequently as a decorative substitute for precious gemstones in period paste and pearl designs.