Once again, silver is having a moment. Elsa Peretti’s sculptural, minimalist jewelry feels newly modern; at home, antique flatware is making a return to the table. And over on TikTok, interiors-focused posts of “polish my vintage silver with me” have racked up—a gleaming alternative to the abundant “get ready with me.”
For Celine Yousefzadeh, silver has never been mere decoration—it has always been the vessel of celebration. Raised in a Persian family where silver and caviar shared pride of place at the table, she learned early on that these objects can carry ceremony. “It really started with my grandmothers,” she says. “Growing up, there was always a silver bowl of fruit on their tables. That ritual stayed with me.”
When she launched CY Kitchen—a catering and caviar outfit in New York City that quickly became a fashion event fixture—she instinctively displayed her caviar alongside silver wares. Her customizable Golden Ossetra tins soon became a fixture at brand dinners and art-world fêtes; last year, Saks Fifth Avenue even dispatched them to editors as its holiday gift of choice.
Now, Yousefzadeh is widening the frame with CYK Vintage Silver, a line of antique tabletop treasures gathered on sourcing trips through Paris, Milan, and London. (The second collection will drop imminently.) “Everywhere from the Mercatino di Bergamo Alta—the once-a-month flea market in Milan—to stalls in London’s Silver Vaults… it’s such a treasure chest, you have to dig and dig,” she says. She shops by feeling first and then vets for provenance—maker’s marks and era stamps—so she can accurately document a piece’s history for buyers. Offering a range was a deliberate choice: “It was important to have a mix of silver-plated and sterling pieces,” she explains. “Not just for price—silver-plated pieces are lighter, more versatile.”
The assortment reflects that versatility. Scalloped vessels from 19th-century France—once used to chill coupes on ice before a toast—are now suggested as artful fruit bowls. Strawberry-shaped salt-and-pepper shakers from 1970s Italy offer a witty wink. And a vodka-and-caviar server designed to cradle a 50-gram tin is both functional and fantastical, a jewel box for roe. After a soft launch (“Eighty percent of the pieces sold within an hour and a half,” Yousefzadeh notes), she is now debuting a holiday collection, with more pieces—spanning $65 to $2,250—available online.
Heritage silver houses are also betting on vintage silver—famed French silversmith Christofle officially launched its vintage program in 2022—restoring and reselling historic pieces through its boutiques and online. The house’s heritage project manager, Marion Caroff, explains they, too, have a team scouring antique markets “from collectors to private homes to auction houses…to give pieces a second life.”
As Yousefzadeh puts it, “We’re reviving something people once associated with their grandparents—and it’s been fascinating to see younger generations so drawn to silver again.”
