Many women have always preferred silver to gold when it comes to silver jewelry. The broad gleam of silver on a dark background is almost irresistible. With careful working some jewelry can almost rival the sparkle of a diamond. The gleam of silver can come at a moderate cost too, making it even more attractive.
Silver shines well in most any kind of social setting, especially when contrasted against dark clothing. When silver is combined in a piece of jewelry with opals and other precious stones that are dark by nature both the silver and the stone are enhanced.
For thousands of years silver was one of the top two “precious metals” known to man, second only to gold. Today it shares the limelight with gold and platinum. Silver has a lustrous white color but occasionally needs polishing because it reacts with minute traces of sulfur in the air that causes tarnishing.
Traditionally, silver was pretty easy to find all over Europe and West Asia. Shekels of silver weighed a man’s worth to society. In the year 32 C.E. Losing a small silver coin was cause enough to clean the whole house to find and then throwing a party to rejoice over the success.
For centuries silver was used to make bracelets, earrings, nose rings, and to decorate clothing. It was used to make statues, gods, medallions, signets and other necessities.
Right now silver is all the rage in social jewelry. That demand makes silver more attractive as an investment metal. It still isn’t time for the Hunt Brothers to make their move, but rising prices for silver is a good excuse to stock up now on wholesale silver jewelry, especially if you are able to buy directly from a manufacturer.
Because of silver’s unique properties the demand for it continues to exceed the supply. Substituting something else for silver is usually quite out of the question in many processes now vital to our civilization.
Besides being used in jewelry, silver is used extensively in photographic applications, battery production, electroplating, surgical and other medical tools, for making bearings, electronics, and for catalytic purposes. Silver offers industry strength, malleability and ductility. It provides electrical and thermal conductivity. It is sensitive to and it reflects light better than most any other product. Silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal; On top of that it has the ability to endure extreme temperatures. All this demand for silver continues to drive the price upwards, and the value is not likely to come down any time soon because new uses for silver are constantly being found.
Silver jewelry is transportable. For example, there are countries on earth whose governments won’t let you remove money from their areas of influence. By wearing your wealth out on your sleeve as jewelry you have access to more cash at any point along your journey. The value will remain rather constant all around the world.
Gold, platinum, and silver too, have two kinds of value when made into jewelry. Primary value is set by the weight of the precious metal used in production. Secondary value is set by the artistic application in making it.
Buyers will ask, “Is it handmade, is it cast, was, or is the artisan famous?” Occasionally jewelry is made more valuable simply because of its history. A silver bracelet worn by Alfred the Great, for example, would bring far less if thrown out on a pawn shop table than if being offered by one of the finest auction houses on earth.
Another value to figure in to your silver jewelry investment is how much fun, envy and pleasure you will get from wearing it out on the dance floor or other social occasions. With prices going up rapidly and constantly you can have your cake, and wear it too.
