Silver Photo Frames

Real silver plate, metal alloy and the silver look

A silver finish can be achieved in more than one way, and it helps to know which you are choosing. Some of our frames are real silver plated, which means a thin layer of genuine silver covers a base metal. Plate has the colour and depth of solid silver, and with gentle care it can keep its shine for many years.

Most frames are made from metal or a metal alloy finished in silver, and you will also find a few that pair the silver with glass or crystal. Some have a shiny finish that catches the light. Because silver reads as a neutral rather than a colour, it frames a black and white print as readily as a bright holiday picture.

Which print fits which frame

We suggest starting with the photograph you want to show. The 6 x 4in (15 x 10cm) print is the standard size from high street and online printing services, and some of our frames are made for it. A few take a 7 x 5in (18 x 13cm) print, which gives a portrait a little more presence, and a few take 10 x 8in (25 x 20cm), a size that can be enjoyed from across a room.

Then look at the mount, the card border that sits between the photograph and the frame, giving a smaller picture a margin of space and holding it slightly away from the glazing. Some of our frames come without a mount, so the photograph fills the opening to the edge, while a few come with one. Where there is a mount, the size that matters is its opening, not the outside of the frame.

Portrait, landscape and frames for more than one picture

Shape matters as much as size. A portrait photograph is taller than it is wide, and a landscape one is wider than it is tall. Some of our frames are portrait and a few are landscape, while some work either way round, which helps if you like to change the photograph now and then.

Many of our frames hold a single photograph, the simplest way to let one moment stand alone. A few are multi-aperture designs with two or more openings in one frame, suited to pictures that belong together, such as a family gathered across the generations, a baby's first year or the highlights of a wedding.

On a strut, freestanding or on the wall

Think about where the frame will live. A strut is the leg on the back that props a frame up, and some of our frames stand this way, ready for a shelf, a desk or a dressing table. Some are freestanding, and a few can either hang on a wall or stand on a surface, which leaves you free to move them as a room changes.

Silver is a good choice for a hallway or a landing with little daylight, where it brightens a darker corner, and on a sideboard it sits comfortably beside glassware, mirrors and candlesticks. A group of silver frames in mixed sizes on a mantelpiece looks considered rather than cluttered, because the shared finish ties it together, and you can add to it one frame at a time.

Silver photo frames as gifts for weddings and birthdays

Silver has long marked the moments a family wants to remember, so a frame in silver is a natural gift. A favourite print from a wedding stays on show well after the flowers have gone, and among our frames are some suited to a wedding or a birthday. Some are meant for a housewarming, when familiar faces help unfamiliar rooms feel like home, and you will also find frames with a gift for him or for her in mind.

For a baby, some of our frames are suited to marking a birth or to parents welcoming their little one, and some to the years from birth to three. Some suit a child's room, where a frame is a keepsake for a high shelf or a chest of drawers, admired rather than handled. A few are engravable and come plain, ready for your own engraver, as we do not engrave. A short line such as a name and a date reads better on a frame than a long message.

Looking after silver and the photograph inside

Day to day, a soft, dry cloth is the best care for a silver frame. Real silver plate darkens over time as it reacts with traces of sulphur in the air, faster in a damp bathroom or a busy kitchen, and a silver polishing cloth brings back the shine. Polish plate gently and only when it needs it, because firm rubbing wears the thin layer of silver over the years. On a frame that is not silver plate, leave polish aside, as it can mark other finishes.

To clean the front, dampen the cloth lightly rather than spraying anything onto the frame, so nothing runs under the edge towards the photograph. Keep framed photographs out of strong, direct sunlight, which slowly fades a print, and away from a radiator or a steamy room, where heat and damp can make a print curl or stick to the glazing.