The future's bright, the future's silver

Prices may have languished since the 1980s, but the metal is set to regain its lustre, says Gwyn Jones

Ellis Finch, a silver specialist at the auctioneer Bonhams, says: "We used to gauge silver by weight, and the value of some items has easily halved after the boom in silver in the 1980s. The scrap price had gone up in the boom and people saw it as an investment, but then it crashed. Now the market has stabilised, and we are achieving good sale results.

"The things that are struggling are more routine domestic silver items, such as mass-produced tea services, because they're not much used. People do not want to have to keep cleaning them, or risk having them out on display."

The drop in prices didn't affect the top end of the market, Ellis says. "Generally, the early antique Paul Storr and Paul Delamerie pieces from the George III era in the 18th and early 19th centuries have held their value, and actually increased, because these are the really rare pieces."

Julia Cook, a silver expert at Sotheby's, echoes this view: "Prices for basic utilitarian pieces have gone down and stayed down, so if you're looking for kitchenware and canteens of cutlery, now is a good time to buy because anything that is useable is not making big prices. They can only go up as they are pretty much priced at the weight of the silver.

"If you've got a canteen of cutlery or anything useable, hold on to it and use it rather than treat it like a precious commodity that is going to go up in value."

Indeed, silver is now a great affordable gift for somebody if you buy at auction rather than retail, as prices are more viable.

However, there is one area of the market that has seen prices rising and looks to have a bright future. "In the last 10 years, domestic silver may have gone down, but modern silver has doubled in that time," Finch says. "These are unusual pieces from the 1950s to the 1980s, by silversmiths such as Gerald Benney, Stuart Devlin, Robert Welsh and Anthony Elson, who made domestic silver items but made them in a more modern style, and so are seen as more innovative.

"We had a pair of Gerald Benney silver gilt enamelled water jugs recently, which we believed were a private commission, and they made almost £18,000. It would have to be a very good antique piece to reach a comparative price."

Cook of Sotheby's says that it is the younger buyer, more aware of contemporary design, who is fuelling this market. "It's a market that is very much still growing, and first-time collectors can get a toe in before everything becomes out of their price range.

"Get the modern silver by makers such as Benney, Devlin and Christopher Lawrence. Consider the Seventies abstract designs, such as the bark effect, which people aren't particularly into yet and think is a bit gaudy. But give it a couple of years and it will end up in collections and be quite scarce. At the moment, you can buy for about £100 upwards."

Unusual and novelty items will always find buyers but, as with all areas of antiques and collectables at the moment, condition is the key factor. "We've got to the stage in the silver market where people are much more choosy about what they buy," says Cook. "More people are asking us to provide condition reports and getting advice as they become more aware of the importance of buying things in good condition. Do your research, and if there's anything wrong with it, like a dent that can't be restored, it will never gain value."

While caddy spoons, wine labels and other novelty items such as silver pin-cushions and ink wells have held their own - and indeed increased their values if they are good quality examples - modern designer silver is bringing new collectors into the marketplace. Several exhibitions have been held and more are planned, which can only increase awareness of this under-valued area.

For those who want to invest in silver and don't have the tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds required for top-end antiques, it's an interesting proposition. The more rare the item and the better its condition, the stronger it will be as an investment.