Everything You Need To Know About Mexico Sterling Silver Jewelry

As a perfect amalgamation of fact and fiction, the history of Mexico Sterling Silver Jewelry is a highly fascinating one. Taxco is a small town in the state of Guerrero, geographically located about 100 miles Southwest of Mexico City.  

The beginning -

The history of silver mining dates back to the year 1521, when Hernan Cortes arrived and the Spanish conquered the Aztecs. It did not take long for the silver from this Mexican town to spread across Europe, and the town soon became known all across the globe for its silver metal reservoirs. However, with time the reservoirs started to get depleted because of excessive mining, and within the next two centuries the trade was almost finished. It was in the year 1716 when a a Spaniard of French descent named  Don Jose de la Borda rediscovered the metal again in Taxco. 

 

The tale -

Borda discovered a vein of silver while wandering in the hills of Taxco. To show gratitude towards the nature and the city, he built various schools, roads, houses in the region, out of which many are now popular and famous as cathedrals in the region.

Between 1600-1800 -

As time passed, Mexico along with Peru became the biggest producers of silver in the world with more than 85% of the metal being produced by these two countries. It was in the year 1926, when William Spratling, a U.S. citizen came to study Mexico and its culture. Getting impressed with the local artisans who crafted beautiful Mexico sterling silver jewelry, he decide to create designs and rediscover the craft of silversmithing to the natives. He put forward an apprentice system of training young silversmiths with artistic talent.

His efforts included bringing highly regarded goldsmiths from Iguala to Taxco and help the silversmiths with the art to work on the metal. Regarded today as The Father of Mexican Silver. Mr. Spratling passed away in 1967 in a car accident in the town of Taxco itself. To commemorate his efforts the Spratling Museum, the Museo Virreynal de Taxco was created, which is a must visit place if you are coming to this part of the world.

It was efforts of Mr. Spratling that led to the rise of Mexico silver stores, and reinvention of the Mexican handmade silver jewelry which at one time had become a dying art. Today, stores like Mexico Sterling are doing their bit to preserve this art.