Contrary to what we find on the subject, 99.9% pure silver can be worked despite the malleability. It is even this quality that is sought after by the Karen craftsmen in order to be able to shape these jewels, entirely by hand.

Rich in age-old know-how, they perpetuate techniques that are increasingly rare in our industrialized world.

Karen craftsmen maintain the tradition and work with 99.9% pure silver, without mixing (we are not talking about 100% because there are always small impurities). Indeed this is rare. Silver jewelry that is usually found on the market is 92.5% silver, the rest being another metal such as copper.

Thanks to the purity of the silver, manual work is facilitated. The jewels are made without moulding: the material is stretched, flattened, cut, hammered, twisted, welded,... The numerous braidings and weavings of threads or strips of pure silver are characteristic of this magnificent craftsmanship.

To give more solidity to a piece of jewelry, all you need is a sufficient thickness. Some shapes also provide more rigidity. On the other hand, the very refined parts as for large stems of earrings ( Hmong earrings for example), they will have to be handled with more care.

So Karen craftsmen do not make very, very fine silver jewelry, because it would deform too easily.

Thanks to these artisanal techniques and the purity of the material, each jewel bears the unique imprint of the person who fashioned it.