Hill Tribe Silver Ring #33

This beautiful silver jewellery is hand crafted in Northern Thailand. Each piece is as unique as the person who made it.

We buy from the Karen and Hmong people and visit annually to buy their treasures. They are among the few silversmiths that still work in the traditional way, no machinery, just hands and a few basic tools – a flame, a hammer, hand forged stamps - and tradition that has been handed down through the family for as long as anyone can remember. Pieces are finished off by scrubbing in a cotton bag stuffed with lime, rice husks and lime leaves, and then left in the sun to dry. Lime juice is a great way to clean your silver at home too, although as the silver is so pure it will not tarnish and should not need cleaning often. The purest of silver is used, at least 97.5% but often 99.9% pure (compared to sterling silver which is 92.5% pure). This means that those with allergies will find this much more gentle on their skin and it also means that the Hill Tribe silver has its own look and texture that it is well known for.

The symbols used on the jewellery are drawn from nature and some date back to early Thai currency when small silver bars that were pinched to form beads were used like coins. These were stamped with the flower symbol of a central dot surrounded by 5 or 7 other dots. This is now most commonly used today with 7 dots and is said to also represent the 7 human chakras. Stars, the Sun and leaves are all also commonly featured. Silver jewellery was traditionally worn to increase the wearer’s prosperity and also to ward off illness and evil spirits.

Buying in this way means that the tribes are able to support themselves without resorting to other common methods of income, like growing illegal crops like opium or sending family members off to the cities to work in factories.