Friday, February 26, 2010

How to sell silver for the first time

You found you need a little extra money this week. Selling silver is a very easy way to earn extra money. Silver comes in a variety of forms such as coins, sterling silver, silver jewelry, bullion, bars and silverware.

To sell silver jewelry, as with any silver product, you will want to start out by doing extensive research on the item that you have. Is the item worth a lot of money? Is the item rare or a collectable? All of these factors are very important in figuring out the price you want to sell the item for.

A good way to find out the value of the piece that you own is to take the item to an appraiser. This is important because when you look up the value of an item, usually they give you the value for an item that is in excellent condition. Your item may not be in excellent condition or it may even be better than what you had expected it to be worth. If the jewelry is not in the best of condition, you could also consider taking it to a metal refiner to fix up the jewelry which will allow you to maximize your return on it. Once you have found an estimated value for your product, decide the amount that you would like the make on the item.

Deciding where you want to sell the item is a key factor in actually selling the jewelry. There are several online auctions where you can list the product, either in bidding form or a flat pay amount. You can also check out a local antique or jewelry store to see if they are willing to purchase the item from you as a set rate. Typically an antique or jewelry store will not purchase your jewelry for a great price, so you are better off selling the product through auction or to a private collector. There are also several silver and gold exchange websites that allow you to sell your jewelry while aiming at a specific group of people.

It is very important when marketing the jewelry to provide as much detail as possible. You can single handedly convince a potential purchaser to buy your item based on your description alone. Once you get the hang of selling silver, you can continue to do so for a very long time.

Silver coins

We all deal with coins just about every day of our lives, but do any of us ever take the time to analyze them and see more than money on them? Well as all of us know, just about every coin has some sort of special value, to some maybe personal, but to most economically. Some coins are worth just as simply as 5 cents, but did you know that there are actually coins out there worth thousands of dollars? These days, people are making a collection hobby out of their silver coins, some even waiting for the price value to go up on some of them. Most of these world’s fine coins are made out of pure silver, and some dating way back in time, cannot make one exactly a big fortune, but a great deal of money they sure can.

Silver has been used in the process of making coins all over the world since the ancient Greek times. Philip II and his son Alexander the Great, used silver coins to reward their army men and pay for all the army’s expenses as well. Silver coins were also used to make a realistic portrait of the ruler at that time and period. Did you know that even back before 1797 British pennies were made out of silver as well? You may be asking yourself, “Why silver?” Well for many reasons, some being how transportable silver is with its high value of weight ratio, also how long lasting silver can be. Silver has a low spread between its prices making it a lot easier to buy and sale it, but silver can also be counterfeit, which means coins can too. Unfortunately, in China there are a number of coin replicas being made with every exact details as the original coin.

Most importantly, silver coins have helped us learn about people throughout history dating back to the ancient times. Many important people’s faces have been placed in silver coins. People, who made some sort of difference in this world, people like Franklin D. Roosevelt, George Washington, Maria Theresia Taler, Julius Ceaser, Calvin Coolidge, Thomas Jefferson and among many others. So the next time you take a look at a silver coin, keep in mind or do your research to see the coin not only for its value, but for its story as well.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Fashion World of Silver

Silver has been valued as one of the precious metals this earth has to offer, it is used in many things such as coins, ornaments, silverware and of course jewelry. With it's great shine and lustrous white metal, silver has become very popular, especially in the fashion world, making it more affordable to buy nice, chic, and fashionable jewelry with a less expensive touch to it. Not only has silver crashed the world of fashion by accessorizing us but as well as dressing us. There are two ways in which silver is integrated into clothing, the first being where silver ions are incorporated into the polymer in which yarns are made out of.


The second is where silver is coated onto the yarns of clothing. Jewelry companies and stores aren't only making their jewelry out of silver alone, but also mixing silver designs with stones and gems for a more fashionable look as we've seen on runways and fashion magazines. Jewelry lines such as Gucci, Tiffany & Co., Bebe, Chanel, Bestsey Johnson, just to name a few, are all adding silver to their lines. Celebrities are, of course, wearing and strutting silver jewelry all over the red carpet and to award shows. Don't think that silver is only for the rich and famous, or for only big events and parties.


There are many stores out there with great prices and deals on silver jewelry, and silver jewelry can be worn anytime wheter it is at a party as well as a day out at the mall, and goes great with any outfit. Kings and Queens would accesorize themselves with jewelry made out of silver accompanied by precious gems. Ancient Egyptian kings and queens would also accessorize not only themselves but their clothing as well, with silver. So silver has been involved with fashion as we can see for a long while now and the demand for it is not dropping any time soon. Based on research, the demand for silver is at one of its highest peaks at the moment, worldwide.


As we've seen through time, any time is a great time to purchase silver jewelry, it most obviously never goes out of style and is more affordable than other jewelry as compared to gold or platinum.


Antique Silver now

Antique silver is not the easiest silver to find. You can find antique silver on the internet and in your local town, but you have to know where to look. Caring for antique silver is something that you should learn about before you jump into it. Antique silver is very old and should be cared for in a certain way. An antique silver collection is a great investment idea. Some antique silver items are worth more than expensive electronics.

Why Antique Silver is So Hard to Find

Antique silver is called antique because it has been around for a certain number of years. In order for an item to be considered of any worth or value as an antique, it should be about 50 years old. Some items are considered antique after about 20 years, but silver is not usually one of these items.

Finding antique silver that has been around for 50 years or more is not very easy to do. This is because you have to find it from other people. You have to visit estate sales, and auctions. You are in essence looking through the possessions of other people to find treasure. You can go to antique shops online and offline to find this jewelry, but antique stores usually know the value of the items they are holding, so you will not usually be given a very big discount.

The Best Places Online and Offline to Find Antique Silver

When you are looking on the internet for antique silver, you will be able to find some things at online auctions or at online classifieds sites. If you are shopping at online classifieds sites, you will have to know a little bit about how to know whether something is an antique or not. The seller may tell you that the item is antique silver, but if you do not know what you are looking for, you might not know if they are lying.

Caring for Antique Silver is Not a Simple Thing to Do

When it comes to caring for antique silver, you cannot just scrub it clean and store it in a closet. Well you could do these things, but you will not be doing a lot to retain the value of your item. Some items are more valuable if you do not clean them with standard silver polish. Since the item is an antique, it will be aged, and if it needs to be cleaned, you should take it to a professional antique restoration company. They will know how to restore the item so that it does not lose its value. When you store the item, the box should not let in light or air, and it should be lined with cushioned felt that is clean. If you cannot care for your antique silver in this way, then it is useless to collect it.

Wholesale silver

Finding a good source of wholesale silver is essential for any business person that is in the market to sell jewelry. Even if you want to focus on fine jewelry, or if you want to focus on costume jewelry, you should still have some room in your inventory for silver jewelry. If you are smart you will make a pretty extensive division of your store for this form of jewelry. If you have not been focusing on selling silver jewelry, you may be wondering why it might be important for you to include this jewelry in your inventory.

If you are in the fine jewelry market, you might feel that it is unnecessary to feature sterling silver jewelry in your inventory. You may carry some jewelry items in your store already that feature real gold combined with sterling silver, or that feature only pure silver as opposed to sterling silver. But if you include some nice looking sterling silver jewelry items in your store, you will make more sales, from both your rich customers and your middle income customers. Silver is a long lasting and affordable metal.

Why have a store full of only items that cost over $100? You are preventing a whole lot of customers from shopping in your store. If you have a few sterling silver items displayed elegantly in your fine jewelry store, that ranges in price from $25 - $80, you will be able to make more money. Your rich customers will make more impulse buys, and your middle class customers will come to you more often. Right now your middle income customers might come to you once or twice in a lifetime for weddings or graduations, but that is it. When you feature sterling silver though, you will bring them in for birthdays and during the Christmas season. That money adds up.

If you are a costume jewelry seller, you might only have gold plating and silver plating on most of your jewelry. But you are totally alienating customers that have metal allergies. Though a certain metal may be labeled as hypoallergenic, for some people it still is not. There are some people in the world that would love to wear your jewelry, but can only wear gold, silver or platinum jewelry. That is it. They cannot wear surgical steel. No matter what you have been led to believe, these people will not buy surgical steel. So chances are, if you feature a little bit of sterling silver jewelry in your inventory, you will not lose these customers.

As you can see, there are so many reasons why buying wholesale silver is essential for any jewelry business person.

Silver Earrings

Silver earrings are some of the most popular jewelry items on the market today. The reason for this is because silver earrings are versatile, and go with just about any outfit you want to wear them with - if the earrings are made of silver alone. If the silver earrings are made with gemstones set in them, of course your outfit options will be limited to the color of the gemstones located within the earrings.

Another reason that silver earrings are so popular is that many people do not like to wear a lot of jewelry. Some men will wear one earring, and some women will wear earrings from time to time and nothing else. In order to have a reliable jewelry item that you can wear all the time, it is best to buy something that is make out of real gold or real silver. Gold can sometimes look a little flashy to people, so most people like this will opt for silver earrings. In fact many people like this will collect a few different types of silver earrings, for work, play and for formal occasions. This might even be the only jewelry that they own.

Those are not the only reasons that silver earrings are so popular, and make such a good business investment. Many people do not wear a lot of jewelry because they are allergic to fake metals, and can only wear silver, gold, and platinum. When people have jewelry allergies, unfortunately, they can suffer from a lot of frustrating symptoms including swelling, discoloration, itching and burning in the area of the body where the jewelry makes contact. This is very frustrating for many people because people like this often long to wear jewelry all the time. Sterling silver remains the most affordable jewelry that can be worn by people with metal allergies.

Though silver earrings are a low to moderately costing item for most retail shoppers, that does not mean that going into the silver earrings business is a bad idea for the business person. As mentioned, silver earrings are very popular for many groups of consumers. In addition, for most consumers a few different pairs of silver earrings, are a must have wardrobe item. So if you have got a good product, you have some definite buyers. Selling silver earrings is a great money maker for both the small business person, and the large business person, and for the shopper silver earrings are a great fashion look. They can be worn during daytime hours, and night time hours.

Gold Silver

Gold silver jewelry is a form of jewelry design that became quite popular around the world in the 1980’s. It was very common to see celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor and popular soap opera stars wearing heavy and bulky items that combined both real gold, and sterling silver. Besides being considered elegant and beautiful, gold silver jewelry was usually only something that rich women could afford. Most women that were not very wealthy could only afford imitation gold silver jewelry. Though silver is not super expensive, real gold was. In lieu of real gold and silver, some gold silver jewelry was brass and sterling silver, or silver tone. This was a very popular combination in retail stores, and department store catalogs.

Though gold silver jewelry seemed to reach its ultimate in popularity during the 1980’s, there are some timeless gold silver jewelry designs that will look nice at all times. In the 1980’s you saw a lot of braided jewelry like this. The necklaces and collars were made to look like thick braids, and twists, combining the two metals. This look is very dramatic, and usually is not for everyone, unless it is en vogue. If you like the look of gold silver jewelry, you will find that combining the metals with a chain and pendant, is a timeless, and elegant way display these two looks. For example, if you wear an elegant chain made of sterling silver, with a gold pendant, this is a nice look. If you wear multiple delicate chains made up of different gold and silver patterns, that is a nice look, as long as the chains are thin and feminine.

Another good look combining gold silver is artisan jewelry. A lot of jewelry artists combine gold and silver in pendants, and in bracelets. This gold silver is usually subtle and artistic, without being overwhelming and causing your jewelry fashion to look out of date.

Finding this sort of jewelry is going to be harder because it is a very unique look that is not for everyone. It is fashionable, but it does attract attention rather than blending in. The best place to find this jewelry is on the internet, and the best looks you will find combining the metals into gold silver jewelry, will be by local or online artisans. You will find that artisans will combine gold and silver to make elegant rings, bracelets, pendants and earrings, and if you cannot afford real gold for your jewelry, then why not get a sterling silver and brass combination for the same look, in a modern style

How to get cheap silver

If you are in the market for silver, you are probably wondering how to get cheap silver. Even if you have the money to buy expensive silver, everyone can appreciate a good deal. If you are wondering how to get cheap silver, looking around online is the best solution for you. You have access to silver retailers all over the world, and you can find some really good deals during your search.

There are so many reasons that silver is a great metal for you to work with. Not only is silver one of the most nice looking metals you can buy, you can get into the silver market very easily. Price-wize it is affordable to the merchant to buy wholesale and for the customer to purchase on the retail end. Though it is true that sterling silver will not make you as much money in retail as selling real gold, or platinum, you will still make good money because the demand for silver is high.

There are a few main reasons that you might be wondering how to get cheap silver. You might not have a lot of money, and want to buy silver as a gift or for your personal wardrobe. If this is the case, the best place to find good deals are sales online and in your local stores, that offer silver items. At the end of the season - when vendors are restocking - you will find that there are a few good deals.

If you are wondering how to get cheap silver in order to stock your store with silver items, you will have it a bit easier. As long as you can prove that you have a business license, you will find that you can buy cheap silver at rock bottom prices from wholesalers. Regular people cannot get these prices, only people that are in business. If you are wondering how to get cheap silver in order to melt it down and get money for the metal alone, you can buy used silver jewelry from any place. It would be best for you to shop around at online auctions or online classifieds for people who want quick money. You will find raw silver from these people at rock bottom prices when you have cash in hand.

For re-selling silver jewelry in your own store., there is a huge variety of wholesalers on the internet. In fact many wholesalers do the bulk of their business online. However, learning how to get cheap silver is a process that will take some time and investigation, no matter why you are looking to buy it.

Buy Silver

If you are in the market to buy silver, then you have probably been looking all over the place to find really good deals. Silver is truly an attractive metal, that is popular with both genders, and all age groups. You will also find that women that are wealthy, middle class, or even that have a low income, will treasure silver jewelry.

This is not just because silver is an attractive metal, it is also because silver has always been pretty reasonably priced - even on the retail end of things. In addition, silver is durable, and can easily be cleaned and repaired. So even if you do not have a lot of money, you will find that it is possible to own at least one item of silver jewelry.

If you want to buy silver, you must first decide which form of silver you want to purchase. Deciding which form of silver you will want to buy, is primarily decided by what you want to do with the silver after you buy it. If you want to buy silver for a gift, you should consider buying a necklace or earrings set in silver. If you are looking to buy silver in order to make money with it by melting it down, you will want to buy silver in the form of chains, and broken pieces. You will want to buy any kind of silver you can get your hands on. It does not have to be set with gemstones, or other fancy things, because the metal will be of value to you.

If you want to buy silver in order re-sell silver jewelry to customers, then you want to buy silver from a silver wholesaler. Finding a good silver wholesaler has never been easier. You can find a silver wholesaler by shopping around on the internet quite easily. There are a lot of good vendors that are located all over the world. In order to buy from a wholesaler though, you will have to be in legitimate business for yourself, and you might have to prove that to the wholesaler.

As you can see, there are many good reasons to buy silver. It is a solid and beautiful metal. Not only does it make a good gift alone, (or when set with gemstones), it also makes a good investment in its raw metal form, as well as a product for sale in your online store, or your brick and mortar shop.

Buy Sterling silver

Buying sterling silver can be quite a chore, if you do not know where to look. Silver is so popular that you will find sterling silver all over the place for sale. This is true whether you are looking around online or if you are shopping in your local mall. The reason sterling silver is so popular, is because it is affordable for all types of women, and lends itself to so many outfits.

The reason that sterling silver is so popular is not just because it is such an attractive alloy, it is also moderately priced on the retail end. Unless you are trying to buy pure silver, most people are able to afford silver. Silver is also the only metal available in that price range that can last a lifetime, and can always be restored.

When you are looking for sterling silver, your search must be determined by your specific needs. What do you want to use the silver for? Do you want to make a profit from the sterling silver, or do you just want to buy a few items for yourself, or for a gift? When you are shopping for sterling silver gifts, you should consider purchasing silver jewelry that has gemstones in it. You should also consider buying necklaces, bracelets or earrings, because these items will be comfortable for most wearers. When it comes to rings, if you get the wrong size, your recipient will not be able to enjoy her gift.

If you are planning to re-sell silver as a raw metal to earn money, or whether you are trying to buy sterling silver in order to re-sell it in an online store, or your own store in the real world, you should probably look at a different type of sterling silver supplier. When you are buying the silver just to make money on the metal, you can buy just about any silver you find that is for sale at a cheap rate. Your can purchase old broken jewelry from people, and cheap chains, because the silver will be just melted down anyway.

If you want to buy the silver to re-sell it in a jewelry form, you will have to buy silver from a wholesale company. There are several good companies on the internet that offer really good rates to business people interested in offering sterling silver to their customers. Chances are you will have to prove that you are a business person, and that you have a legal state license to sell. But after you have done this, you will have access to a lot of silver at great prices.

Silver prices on the rise

Sice way back in the 1900's silverprices have been on a steady rise and have not had any sugnificant slow down. It has rose dramatically from 2000 to 2008, it rose from about $5.00 to $15.00. It makes a person wonder haw much money they might really have stuffed away in a jewlery box somewhere. The rise in silver prices are probley due to the many already used for the metal and for all the new up in coming uses for it. Silver can be used for everything from jewlery to medical applications and even solar energy. How can silver be used for solar energy one might ask. Well silver paste is used in about 90% of solar photovoltaic cells. This use will sky rockect silver prices now and in the future. It is also said that silver ions can be used to prevent bacteria and algea buildup which is ideal for water purification. Silver also already has a lot of industrial uses already. For example, silver is used in batteries that power cameras, toys and in hearing aids. Also, one ounce of silver can be used to take 5,000 color photographs. There is almost no limit to the uses of silver. Silver is able to be used in so many different ways because it is a free medal and can be eaisly molded and worked with. The United States is the eighth top producing country in the world with Peru being the number one top silver producing country in the world. It seems that an individual would be very smart to invest in any aspect of silver, whether it be in the industrial sense, jewlery or in upcoming applications. Silver prices, in the past and in the present, do not show a real danger of slowing down, especially with all the new and up coming applications coming in to play for the future will only make the demand for the precious medal go up even further. This free medal that can be easily worked with seems like it will be the new future for a lot of different products in the United States.

Gemstone Silver

Gemstone silver, is one of the most attractive forms of silver jewelry you can buy. Though by itself, silver is an attractive metal, gemstone silver truly displays the beauty and practicality of silver jewelry. For example, if you have a beautiful silver chain, it is true, that is a really nice look. But if you add a silver drop to that chain - that has a semi-precious gemstone featured in the drop - your chain takes on a whole new dimension that is richer, and much more unique and beautiful.

Silver is quite lovely by itself, but if you add gemstones like onyx, garnet, amethyst, rose quartz, jasper, or pearl to your jewelry, you are really doing something significant. Gemstone silver jewelry has a magical and ethereal look to it. In addition to its beauty gemstone silver is also very sturdy. It will last you a long time if you care for it properly. Even though you can wear your gemstone silver in the shower and in baths and pools, this does not mean that you should. Though you can easily clean and repair your gemstone silver jewelry, you will not be able to completely restore it if it becomes too scratched. You can usually restore it to about 80 - 95% of its original beauty. Whereas if you take good care of it, you will probably always be able to restore your silver to 100% of its original beauty.

Another great quality of gemstone silver is that it can easily from day to night time wear. This makes gemstone silver ideal for the woman of today. Modern women often work outside of the home, and sometimes have evening social obligations after work. Silver jewelry has the unique ability to look both casual and formal, especially if it features beautiful gemstones. This is not something you can say about most gold jewelry.

Finding gemstone silver can be a little tricky though, if you do not know anything about gemstones. It requires a little bit of knowledge to make sure you are getting a good stone in your jewelry.

There are many forms of silver jewelry that are set with acrylic stones, that are designed to look like gemstones. Though this type of jewelry can be attractive, the acrylic might not be as sturdy as real gemstone silver. Most real gemstones have been a part of the earth for hundreds of years, making these stones very durable.

Pearl Silver

Silver is a metal that looks attractive with just about any gemstone that you can find, but one of the most beautiful gemstones to feature in silver jewelry is the most simple one, the pearl. There are many instances where you will see silver set with colorful gemstones like garnet, and jasper and jade. But when you see pearl silver, you really find a unique jewelry item. The beauty and simplicity of pearl silver is making it much more popular. Pearl silver jewelry has an elegant simplicity, and innocence that looks nice on women of all ages.

Because of the delicate beauty of pearl silver, it is best to wear this jewelry in the summertime and the spring time. It is only really appropriate to wear pearl silver in the winter time, or the fall season, if you are a part of a wedding ceremony, or if you are wearing a crisp white blouse. Any other wearing of pearl silver jewelry during colder months, is like wearing white shoes after labor day, and it can be considered tacky.

When it comes to finding jewelry for a bride to wear, pearl silver remains a very beautiful and elegant choice. Not only will your jewelry be attractive, it is also durable enough to last a few lifetimes with the proper care. You can easily pass it on to your own children for their wedding ceremonies. But despite all of these wonderful features pearl silver is affordable to the bride that is on a budget.

Another good use for pearl silver is for young girls to wear. Small pearl silver earrings remain amongst the most appropriate looks for young girls to wear. Even if the earrings are small drops, it still does not look to grown up for a child as young as 9 years old. If the child is younger than that, then studs should be the only consideration.

Finding pearl silver can be a little hard because it is not the most common silver gemstone jewelry you will find on the market. If you cannot find it ready-made, then you might want to consider having it custom made by a jewelry designer. This is worth the extra expense. Your jewelry will last you a long time, and you will get a lot of wear out of your lovely jewelry. It is sure to attract a lot of compliments.

Elegant simplicity is not the easiest thing to achieve, and a lot of people appreciate this when they see it. If hiring a designer to make your pearl silver is not an option, your best bet is to look around online for a good vendor.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Silver Necklaces

Silver necklaces are a traditional, elegant piece of jewelry. There are thousands of different styles available from different store and manufacturers, but the fact that silver is a high quality metal is consistent through them all.

When buying silver necklaces, it is important to remember that not all of them will contain the same percentage of silver. To get the highest quality of silver necklace, make sure that the silver is pure. If the look of the silver is more important, it is cheaper to get silver necklaces with a lower percentage of silver and they still look very nice.

Many silver necklaces include charms or pendants. Some are themed, such as being in the shape of a letter, a leaf or a heart, while others are simple designs. These charms either hand from silver chains of varying sizes or from chains of a different metal. In fact, some silver necklaces are just the chain itself and do not have a charm or pendant. These silver neckalces are usually made up of intricate chaining that looks exquisite and elegant.

Silver is particularly popular for jewelry such as silver necklaces because very few people have negative reactions to it. Earrings and other jewelry are also often made out of or coated with silver or sterling silver for this reason. Silver is known to be not only safe to wear, but even healthy. In Hinduism especially silver is associated with health and wellness. It is said that people who wear silver necklaces, specifically with certain designs of pendants or charms, will feel secure and will experience better health and general wellness.

Silver necklaces are easy to match with any outfit and can both dress up a casual wardrobe or add the finishing touches to a formal look. Often silver necklaces are paired with silver earrings or other jewelry. Long, draping silver necklaces are often worn, but silver chokers are also popular, particularly among young people.

Silver necklaces are an essential part of any jewelry collection. Silver necklaces are elegant, sophisticated and a good first piece of jewelry to buy for those who are just beginning their collection

History of Silver



Modern day Turkey is considered to be the first real source of processed Silver. Silver has long been a precious metal sought by all who wish to create a symbol of wealth. Silver can be fashioned into very decorative jewelry. Silver allows itself to be worked in the same fashion as Gold. Silver is very pliable and allows excellent blending to produce different alloys. Generally speaking Gold and Silver are the two precious metals that mankind has come to view as the main staple for jewelry making. Craftsmen who worked with Silver as an art, flourished in the regions of the Greek Islands, and Asia Minor.

The first real effort to mine Silver was begun before 3000 B.C. The process to extract Silver from lead and silver based ores was one of the first attempts to capture Silver in a more pure refined form. The process used to do this was simple, and was called Cupellation. The Chaldeans are said to have perfected this process of Cupellation. Having perfected the Cupellation process by 2500 B.C., Silver was well onto its way of being mined in a way that would allow quantity and quality. Mankind had found a remarkable metal.

Armenia having come onto the Silver mining scene in 2500 B.C. allowed for many Discoveries of Silver deposits being found among its lands. In 1200 B.C. Athens Greece became the focus of the major Silver production and most techniques were being perfected that allowed the ancient refiners to get higher yields, from the ore that was being mined. The quality of Silver was also beginning to be more refined and of a much greater purity level than 1000 years before.

Silver had truly became a desired and well sought after metal that would shape the future of what mankind would call precious metals. Latter in the history of Silver Spanish Silver took its rightful place as the King of production sources for the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire used much of the mined Silver coming from the mines in Spain. Rome was one empire that had believed in the stockpiling of this precious metal.

In 8 B.C. the Spanish mines were of such importance they even played a major role in the Asian Spice trade. Major increases in Silver production began in the time period from 300 BC to 1000 AD, in this time period newer and broader methods began to present themselves to the art of Silver mining. The Silver this time period produced in history is the greatest amount of mining and production of raw Silver witnessed minus the efforts of the 1800s in California and Nevada.

Today’s Silver is a far cry from the Silver of old.

Silver Bracelets

Although the value of gold may still be on the increase as the world's most popular precious metal, we should not be so soon to forget about one of gold's closest cousins, silver. Gold jewelry may be dominating in the line of fashion but silver jewelry is just as good. Silver bracelets most especially have that mark of desire because they have a few advantages over their golden counterparts. There are certain outfits, fabrics, and colors that gold just does not measure up with. Silver on the other hand, is a different matter entirely. Silver bracelets are just as favorable and flashy as the gold ones and silver does literally go with anything because it is a neutral tone. Silver bracelets can be worn with casual dress or with formal wear. They can be worn with blue jeans or heels and they compliment any color of the rainbow and then some.

Silver bracelets come in a variety of designs and patterns accented with charms and beads and stones, or just as a simple chain. They can have the look of real, linked chain or they can be as delicately crafted as a flower petal. Silver bracelets and all silver jewelry really is best worn by those who prefer not draw a lot of attention to themselves but still will want to be subtly noticed in a more intimate setting. Silver has the ability to present a modest appearance and draw little attention. Like their golden cousins, silver bracelets do come in the bangle style. They come in herringbone or linked chain. Most of the bracelets made today come with a lobster claw clasp instead of the spring-ring clasp that use to come with them. The Natives of the west make silver bracelets accented with turquoise, which can add the perfect finishing touch to any western style ensemble. Silver cuff bracelets are also a common accessory to the western horse rider. One of the most common traditions in bracelet wearing is to add several bracelets at a time to one arm to create the "layered" effect or to create the illusion that one is wearing one large cuff bracelet.

Sterling Silver

Sterling Silver has always been a great alternative to cheaper jewelry and household items for hundreds of years now; but it wasn't always so cheap. In the years 1840-1940 the sterling silver craze took place all around the United States and Europe, many silver companies emerged from those times, and sterling silver was only affordable to the wealthy. Sterling silver is made up of 92.5% mined silver mixed with other metals, mainly copper, and was first used to make proper flatware table settings. Soon after it was used to make all types of items such as; mirrors, hair clips, perfume bottles, powder bottles, water pots, trays, pill bottles, manicure sets, shoe horns, coaster, chocolate pots, letter openers, cigarette cases, napkin rings, egg cups, wine pitchers and among many other items. Silver companies started making great deals of business with these type of sterling silver items. Nowadays, sterling silver is even used on intruments such as medical equipment and even musical intruments, the sound that the sterling silver makes is commonly used in such instruments as saxaphones and flutes.

Today, jewelry made from sterling silver is very common and popular, thanks to their affordable prices, but unfortunately sterling silver is known to tarnish, get dark and dirty real easily. The silver is not reactant to oxygen or water at certain temperatures, but it's the copper that reacts with common things as these causing tarnish on the sterling silver items. Good and proper care is needed if you want the sterling silver jewelry and materials to last, such as cleaning it periodically. There are several products in the market made to care for sterling silver items, to remove sulfur, polish and protect the item longer from damages. Professional jewelers and companies use techniques like wheel polishing to clean out their silver, especially when it is really old. A cheaper technique for keeping small sterling silver items in good condition, for example a ring, is to polish it up with clear nail enamel, this will keep it from tarnish or damage longer. If the enamel falls you can always re-apply it for longer use.

Silver rings: Here is your match

If you are looking for a new style of ring to buy for a friend or a loved one than you should consider all the different types of silver rings on the market. The reason why some many people like the silver rings is because the silver is a hypoallergenic material that is good for people who have a problem with metals and still like to wear jewelry to make them feel as if they are all women and less mom and other jobs that they perform. When you are looking for silver rings you will want to consider the different stones and gems that come on the silver rings.

There are many different companies and manufacturers who sell silver rings. There is a number of companies who create these silver rings to hold gems such as pink stones that look good and can be worn with a number of different types of outfits. The outfits that can be worn are a vast assortment from wearing the silver rings with a dress or with a pair of slacks and dress shirt. There are many different occasions that these silver rings can be worn to. Making sure that you accessorize your clothing is one thing that most women like to do before they leave the home each day and on the special nights that they are going out on the town with friends or with family.

Wearing the silver rings that come with just designs embossed and embedded on them with is another popular type of style that women like to wear. The simplicity of this style of jewelry is what makes the jewelry most wanted. This style of silver rings is good so that people who are wanting to just keep their jewelry as simple as they can, can wear the jewelry to work as well as to other locations. The jewelry that you are wanting to purchase that comes with silver rings, is going to show off how much style and class that you have. The different types of rings that you might be interested in can range in the way that the look. One ring may look like a plain silver ring that has a small gem on it or you might find silver rings that you like that have different designs that wrap around the ring like vines or hands. Each ring is unique in the way that it looks and makes a number of different styles harder for you to choose from when you are looking to go ring shopping.

Silver Chains

There's nothing quite as fancy and nice looking as a sparkling shiny sterling silver chain worn around the neck or adorning the wrist or ankle. With so many different styles to choose from every man, woman and teen can find the sterling silver chain that looks right for them. Silver chains are an affordable way to show the world you have class and you like the finer things in life. With the cost of gold skyrocketing over a thousand dollars an ounce, silver chains are now considered the common sense jewelry of choice.

Sterling silver chains have a full 92.5% silver content and contain 7.5% weight of other metals, usually copper. Pure silver is 99.9% and is to soft to use in the manufacture of larger items so copper is added for strength. This silver and copper mix keeps your sterling silver chains strong, durable, shiny and long lasting for years.

Looking for a nice rope style sterling silver chain? You can purchase a nice 1.3 mm sterling silver rope chain for under $20 and at the length that will comfortably fit you or your love one's neck. The same rope chain in 14k gold chain would cost you $100 or more. Sterling silver chains are light in weight and are very comfortable to wear. Depending who much you'd like to pay, you can choose a beautiful silver chain with a thickness of 1.3 mm up to a full 13 mm. 13mm is a very thick and bold looking chain.

They're are several styles of silver chains to choose from and all of them are unique, popular and exceptionally good looking. Some of the styles you can choose from are box, which have separate square box looking designs capping the length of the chain. The silver snake type chain actually looks somewhat like snake skin and is a real favorite among the young and old alike. The figaro style silver chain looks very classy with different size links that look almost braided throughout the length of the chain. The Omega style silver chains are bold and beautiful and have a silver cord like appearance that makes them stand out and look very expensive.

All of these nice silver chains are remarkable, stylish and tell the world you have class. Go ahead, You deserve it!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Silver : A good investment

Like many precious stones, Silver can be invested in. For years and tears, it has been regarded as a form of money, yet it has lost its role as legal tender in the United States since the end of the silver standard even though it kept being used in dimes and quarter dollars until 1964, and half dollars until 1970 when the intrinsic value of the silver overtook the coins' face values.

You can invest in silver in different ways. Being an expensive material, it returns the money invested in it so fast. When you have money to start a business with silver, it's recommendable to first talk to a silver company, try to create a relationship with it and then start a Jewelry store. The company will help get silver easily,to a good price, and of good quality. Many guys out there hire people, buy appropriate machines and embark on the work of making rings, necklaces, bracelets and many different objects needed in life that can be made in silver like the kitchen utensils, customized buckles, etc.

Not only in a good way do people invest in silver; because of its high popularity and being most wanted by a bunch of people, some tricksters choose to use it and rip people off. If you are not sure of your ability to recognize the real silver,you might want to look the kinds of good silver and you can recognize it straightforwardly.

There are no specific tips for investing in silver, the number one secret is to work as hard as possible, get up early sleep late. First of all introspect yourself, according to your perspectives, is silver the thing for you to invest in? If the answer is yes, search about it, how it is selling on the market, surf on the internet but beware of what you read because there are a lot of misinformation.

Get familiar with the different ways in which you can invest in silver; you can invest in silver mining companies, silver ETF's, silver futures, silver bullions and coins, or involve your own ingenuity to come up with something, but as a beginner, i would recommend you to invest in bullions and coins where you don't have to sign contract which might risky further on, or pay for the mining company's energy costs.

In case you find my recommendation useful, buy as much coins as you can, but when buying them,make sure you are not buying them for their numismatic value. It's advisable that before you invest in silver, you don't get excited for your first benefit and spend the rest of the money in silver, you will need to know how much you invest between your IRA rollover funds, cashon hand and remember to keep your emergency fund behind mostly in cash for unforeseen expenses.

Finally you have to know when to buy and when to sell in connection with your budget and goals.

Remember, there is no time like today! What are you still waiting for, get started today, follow these tips, and you will tell me.

Silver in today's Jewelry

Jewelry has been part of life for a very long time. A lot of forms of jewelry are worn all over the world for traditional, social and sometimes religious reasons. Jewelry can be worn in different parts of the body if not almost in any part of the body or clothing. Most of the jewelries worn are rings worn on fingers and rarely on toes, necklaces worn around the neck, beads, pendants worn with necklaces around the neck, earrings worn on ears, teeth replacement worn in the mouth by people who have lost their teeth, bracelets or bangles worn on the wrists, piercings put through holes in the skin, etc.

As jewelry can come in many forms, it can be made from different kinds of precious stones too, silver included. Because of it's softness yet sparkling appearance, Silver jewelries have gained popularity in the last few years. Not so much of it is produced though, and even the few that reaches the market, is attributed a very high price. It's so difficult to come across a silver material of good quality nowadays at an appropriate price besides the fact that plating and counterfeiting in general has attained its extreme level.

Despite the fact that the production of silver has increased recently, the price on the market stays costly. In 2008, the countries like Peru, Mexico, China, Australia, Chile, Poland, Russia,USA,Bolivia and Canada were respectively ranked the top 10 silver producing countries.
Analogously, companies like BHP billiton from Australia, KGHM Polska Miedz from Poland, Fresnillo Plc from Mexico, Cia. Minera Volcan from Peru, Pan American Silver from Canada, Cia. de Minas Buenaventura from Peru, Polymetal from Russia, Hochschild Mining from Peru, Kazakhmys from Kazakhstan, and Southern Copper Corp. from USA were also respectively ranked the top 10 silver producing companies in 2008.

As you can see from the data above, south america is the richest part of the world in silver. Most of the silver that is used all over the world comes from South America. There are still some parts of the world that have a soil rich in precious stones but that is not being exploited as it should be,for example Congo which is labeled to be standing on a lot of natural resources,but it does not appear on the top 20 silver producing countries in the world.

Anyways, back to our use of silver in today's Jewelries, Silver is being the most common fashion for young generations, especially artists who bear to spend a colossal amount of money upon chains, rings and earrings. it's a piece of clothing that makes you easily conspicuous anywhere.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Facts you should know about "Silver"

Silver, one of the most precious stones on earth, is a glistening white, ductile metallic element used for making mirrors, coins, necklaces, bracerets, rings, etc. People around the word hanker after it, try to seek it but all in vain because there are a lot of fake silver materials out there on the streets. It's becoming a worldwide problem how people keep getting ripped off when there should be taken precautions to tackle it.
I assume not that many people have seen and touched first real silver.Being the precious thing that Silver is, it is used in proverbs to stand for positive things; for instance, "every dark cloud has a silver lining," meaning that in most cases after a bad situation passes, a good thing appears.
Because of the fact that silver itself is a generally very soft metal for producing large functional objects, it's often alloyed to Copper, Germanium, Zinc and Platinum and sometimes Silicon and Boron. For example, the saying Sterling silver means 92.5% silver alloyed to another metal, usually Copper.This gives silver strength, helps it preserve its ductility and beauty. Every single element to be alloyed to silver has something to do with either the silver's restistance to porosity, firescale, or tarnishment.
Nowadays, because silver is exceedingly expensive, meaningfully unaffordable to a big number of people, silverplate materials have come to the customer's rescue. Plating actually means a surface-covering where a metal is put on a conductive situation, sometimes covered with a very thin surface of a precious stone,like Silver. Plating does last forever as real silver does though. It just stays on the metal for a particular amount of time and then starts scratching itself away.
Anyways, most people are ripped off thinking they are buying a good quality silver when it's not even it at all. If you need to buy a silver material, you would be better off checking out some who has experience in things like that before you get cheated on,i always take the material to a jewerly store and ask them to detect it before i purchase it; you might want to do the same or do somethig else but make sure you buy the right thing at the right price.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010