Choosing a Filigree Gift, and Wearing Two Pieces Without Tangle

Filigree is easy to give and slightly harder to choose, because the qualities that make it beautiful — openness, fineness, a pattern you can see through — are also the qualities that make it fragile in the wrong hands. A few minutes of looking closely will tell you whether a piece suits the person you have in mind.

Reading a piece before you give it

Check the scale against the wearer. Filigree reads larger than its measurements because the pattern spreads visually. A 45mm brooch looks like a 55mm solid one. If you are unsure, go one size smaller than you would in solid silver.

Check the closure. Earrings and necklaces are worn against skin and hair all day; a clasp that is merely decorative will fail. Look for a clasp that is 925 rather than fine silver, and for a pin or hook with a positive catch rather than friction alone.

Check what it is for. A brooch is the most forgiving gift: it does not depend on ring size, wrist size, or an ear piercing. A pendant is next. Rings and bangles need a size, and filigree rings are difficult to resize because the band is the pattern.

Check the certificate. Every piece ships with an assay certificate. If you are giving it as a gift, the certificate is also a document the recipient can keep — it states what the metal is, in a way a gift box cannot.

Gifts that arrive finished

A gift should be wearable the day it arrives. Ours are packed in a keepsake box with a cotton pouch and a care card, and the card can be handwritten in English or Chinese. Prices are never shown on the gift receipt. Orders are dispatched within three working days.

Layering without tangling

Openwork silver tangles more easily than solid metal because there is somewhere for a chain to catch. The practical rule is a difference in length of at least 5cm between two necklaces, and a difference in weight between any two pieces worn together.

• Two necklaces: 40cm and 45cm, or 45cm and 50cm. Any closer and the chains find each other at the neck.
• Three necklaces: keep the finest one shortest, so the heaviest piece hangs lowest and pulls the group straight.
• Brooch and necklace: place the brooch to one side, not at the centre, so the chain has a clear path down.
• Earrings and necklace: if the earrings are wide, keep the necklace close to the collarbone. The two compete for the same visual space.

The one rule

Wear one piece that carries the pattern and let the others be quiet. Filigree is legible from a distance; two openwork pieces at the same scale read as noise, while one openwork piece beside plain silver reads as intentional. If you want to wear two, make one of them the subject and the other a line.

Keeping them apart when not worn

Store layered pieces in separate pouches rather than together. A chain stored against filigree will work its way into the pattern overnight, and the pressure of pulling it free is exactly the pressure that flattens a loop.

Sets that follow the one-rule

• Enamel Blossom Necklace — colour that reads at a distance, $169
• Petite Butterfly Necklace — small enough to sit under a collar, $129
• Geometric Line Necklace — a plain line to pair with openwork, $169
• Butterfly Gift Set — brooch and necklace paired, $324 for both