Silver anniversary gifts don’t have to be silver, but the convention is that after 25 years, a silver jubilee, something silver is the most suitable type of gift – not pottery (ninth anniversary), not silk (twelfth) and certainly not pearl (30th) or Ruby (40th).
A silver anniversary gift is an acknowledgement of the longevity of a marriage; silver is sturdy, hard wearing, and if looked after, stays bright – some say improves with age. Silver is also valuable, for centuries it was used for coinage, with ‘pieces of eight’ the stuff of pirate legends. These days, silver plated objects are equally acceptable as silver anniversary gifts. But whether solid silver or the plated version, it is valued for its appearance and durability, for the way it can be worked into things of beauty, and for its other somewhat more mundane qualities – it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal.
Nothing is so apt as silver anniversary gifts as silver itself.
