The collection of foreign gold- and silverware includes more than 9000 pieces made by the finest Western and Oriental silversmiths and jewellers of the 13th-20th centuries. The core of the collection was formed in the treasuries of the Royal and Patriarch’s estates in the Kremlin; it is one of the oldest collections in the museum, which was founded in the early 19th century.
In the 16th-17th centuries, the collection was filled through active purchasing of foreign precious articles for the Moscow rulers and through a great number of diplomatic gifts to the sovereigns.
On the whole, the collection is one of the largest in the world containing a rich material for characterizing national peculiarities and ways of development of gold and silver art in many European countries. It reflects all the main stylistic trends of European art, from Romanesque and Gothic to Art Nouveau and the avant-garde of the 20th century.
Bright goldsmithery schools of England and Germany of the 16th-17th centuries are presented particularly well. The museum's collections in these sections are unrivaled in the world in quantity and quality of works. They give a comprehensive view of the work of London, Nuremberg, Augsburg and Hamburg craftsmen.
The Dutch part of the collection is distinguished by its chronological brevity. It consists of works made mainly by Amsterdam goldsmiths in the 1640-1670s.
The collection of Polish and Swedish Baroque silverware is of special cognitive and aesthetic value.
The quantity and artistic qualities of works by French masters give evidence of France’s special place in European silversmithing of Classicism and Empire style.
The collections of ancient items made of natural materials, mostly in the epoch of Renaissance, and the collections of watches and clocks of the 16th-19th centuries, in which pocket and pendant ones are prevalent, are also of great interest and value in the museum funds.
Speaking about Oriental gold- and silverware, of particular interest are works by Turkish jewellers of the 17th century, among which there are many rare and particularly valuable objects.
Since 1970s till nowadays, a lot of art pieces are presented in numerous exhibitions held by the Moscow Kremlin Museums both in Russia and abroad.