Materials containing rare-earth ions and Ag nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely applied due to prior demonstration of increase in their luminescence properties. Here, Tm3+ ions-doped bismuth germanate glasses were synthesized by a chemical reduction method based on the conventional melting-quenching technique. The Ag NPs were facilely precipitated in the glass matrix by the chemical reduction method during the annealing process. TEM image shows that the Ag NPs are closely dispersed in the glass matrix. The luminescence properties and energy-transfer mechanism were systematically investigated by means of absorption, emission, and excitation spectra. Significant enhancements of Tm3+ ions emission and a broad emission band centered at 568nm caused by Ag NPs are observed upon 474-nm excitation. Our research may illustrate the interactions between Tm3+ ions and Ag NPs and provide a simplified way to synthesize the high-efficiency luminescent materials for the blue light-excited W-LEDs.