Mexican silver cuff links
Mexican Overview
 An American architecture professor is responsible for what we hold today to be Mexican silver jewelry. He opened a shop in Taxco, Mexico in 1929 that specialized in hand crafted Mexican arts and crafts (possibly to avoid writing the book he had planned to write) which included silver pieces expressly made for the shop. That professor was William Spratling who originally focused on using Aztec and pre-Columbian designs in his work. His later work was simple and stylized a marked changed from the earlier works focused on the ancients of the area. The silversmiths in his shop were the best in Mexico and can be compared quite favorably with the best in the world. Spratling's works are quite expensive, highly collected and often faked, so if you want a Spratling piece you need to go to a reliable Mexican silver dealer or spend a lot of time researching his work so you can avoid the fakes. Coming out of the Spratling workroom were several top silversmiths that produced a variety of great cuff links. Antonio Pineda (crown Antonio mark) Is know for stone work, http://pages.captainhucksbooty.com/3559/PictPage/1920704050.html for the best knot (both in silver or silver and gold) cuff links and the fact that he only worked in 970 silver, which he believed was easier to work with and produced cleaner lines than sterling. Los Castillo was started by four brothers and is primarily known today because: 1) their mixed metal works are among the finest made anywhere, http://pages.captainhucksbooty.com/3559/PictPage/1922143880.html and; 2) some of their early designs were created by Margot van Voorhries Carr who opened the Margot workroom following her divorce from one of the brothers. Prior to starting his own smithy Enrique Ledesma worked first for Spratling and then for Los Castillos. Ledesma is best known for his curves and swirls and the way he utilized specially shaped stones, http://pages.captainhucksbooty.com/3559/PictPage/1922143881.html I certainly would not limit the wearing of Mexican silver cuff links to the known top makers. There are many whimsical pieces, such as what I call "peeking around the corner," http://pages.captainhucksbooty.com/3559/PictPage/1922143882.html which only bears maker's initials that are probably only found in the books kept by the Mexican government. I'm always happy to wear a well-made fun piece, even if I do not know who actually made it. The best wearing value is found in the well made fun pieces that cannot be traced to a major designer as they are priced accordingly and can bring you, and others, a smile. Well, there are certainly more silver craftman but this is a master you should avoid missing |
