Silver Jewellery and the real facts regarding silver

Silver Jewellery Information for anniversary gifts

Silver has been known and valued as a precious metal since ancient times and has been used in the making of silver jewellery as well as ornaments, coins and high value tableware. It has the chemical symbol Ag and is described as a soft white lustrous metal.

In it's purest form, silver is too soft for jewellery so here in the UK it is alloyed with copper in a ratio of 92.5% silver with 7.5% copper to produce what is known as 925 Sterling Silver. Copper gives the sterling silver strength without spoiling the beauty of it and at the same time it preserves it's ductility.

Sterling silver should bear a hallmark.

Silver has always been popular for the making of jewellery and although classed as a precious metal, it is much more affordable than other metals such as gold. As gold prices have continued to rise dramatically over recent years, silver jewellery has become much more popular for those with limited budgets.

Unfortunately the UK market has been flooded with cheap silver jewellery which is imported mainly from the far east. Whilst this brings affordable jewellery for all, it also brings that mass produced sameness look which appears all over our hight streets and on the web. Many people are concerned as to how these goods are manufactured and what sort of conditions employees have to work in.

Now we at Love2have believe we have lots of homegrown talent here in the UK producing wonderful handcrafted silver jewellery and we want to support that talent. Contrary to what many people believe, it is possible to buy a quality piece of silver for just a little more than what you might expect to pay for a mass produced item.

Be careful if buying imported jewellery as much of it is lightweight as it is hollow and it may be plated to make it look shiny and stop it tarnishing. If it is lightweight and shiny beware as it will be unlikely to wear well and the plating will wear off. It is a well known fact that silver does tarnish but in some people this is more noticeable and it happens more quickly in some than with others. This happens because the natural acids in human skin reacts with metals in the silver. The acids in peoples skin vary and can be affected by many things such as diet, stress, time of year etcetera. The tarnishing problem usually diminishes over time and with continued wearing of the silver item.

The silver jewellery that we sell is solid and non of it is plated other than our fabulous black rhodium plated jewellery, so what you see is what you get.

Silver can be oxidised so this opens up all sorts of design possibilities to produce something that bit more special and the black patterned designs are increasingly popular with all our customers.

We attempt to source unusual silver jewellery that is not readily available on any high street or other internet store. In men the most popular items are our heavy silver rings and bangles. Because the jewellery is made here, we can cater for a much wider range of different sizes in items such as bangles. This means we can accommodate from the smallest to the largest wrist size and that item will be made especially for you. So if you don't fit into the category of average, don't worry because we don't produce average jewellery.

For our ladies, jewellery will always be popular and will compliment any outfit from jeans and t shirt to that little black number for that special occasion. Silver is also popular as wedding jewellery for the bride and bridesmaids. Silvery jewellery really does go with just about any outfit.

If we have any advice against silver it would probably be not to buy a silver ring as a wedding ring, simply because it isn't as hard wearing as other metals.

Because of the versatility and affordability of silver jewellery, many people are now opting to buy several pieces in silver rather than one expensive piece of gold jewellery.

If you fancy something even more special, because our designers are based here, we can produce custom designs or alter some of our existing designs to suit our customers needs. If you don't see what you want or have an idea of something different let us know and we will tell you whether it can be done.