S925 Silver Dragon Phoenix Double Fish Peace Lock

When a child reaches one month, grandparents have a silver lock made and hang it round the neck. The face is chased with long life, wealth and honour, or with a phrase that asks a hundred families to guarantee the child's safety, and a few small bells hang beneath so that every step rings. The custom comes from the longevity lock, and the idea is plain: lock the child in place so that illness cannot carry them off. North and south China both keep it, the shapes differ, but the outline is much the same, wide at both ends and drawn in at the middle, like a padlock laid on its side.

These three versions take three different routes. The phoenix with a lock is a marriage motif. Phoenix and feng were originally a male and a female bird, folk art simplified them into one, and the long trailing tail feathers sit naturally on the face. The dragon version carries more weight: the body coils once around the rim, and scales are the easiest thing to lose on a curved surface, so it depends on the flow of the silver to hold them. The double fish is the lightest, two fish nose to tail with a small gap between them, a pun on the word for surplus. Weight has to be even. If it hangs heavy on one side it will sit crooked, so check the flatness of the face and look at the chased characters in raking light; deep cuts stand up, shallow ones go flat at a glance.

The face has a thickness to it. Too thin and it cannot carry the chased layers, and it looks flat when seen straight on. Too thick and it drags at the neck, and a child will not keep it on. This one raises a fine ridge along the edge, smooth under the fingertip, which also makes the outline stand. The loop sits at the top and the hole is small, so the cord has to be thin enough to pass through it.

For a child, use red cord and set the length above the chest rather than down at the belly, where it swings and hits when they run. For a newly married couple, change to a dark red braid or a plain silver chain; the phoenix version fits the occasion best. Children grow quickly, so leave slack in the cord. Worn by yourself, the double fish is the least fussy of the three, at home over a cotton shirt or a plain knit, sitting just below the collarbone without competing with the neckline. If the characters are cut in relief, the raised parts polish smooth first, and that is also how you judge how long a lock has been worn.

Silver darkens with wear. The hollows go black first and the chased marks become clearer for it. Wipe along the lines rather than across them. Keep it in a small pouch when it is not being worn; the rim dents most easily and those dents cannot be polished out. There is no need to clean a silver lock every day. A little tarnish is where the age comes from.