What To Look For When Buying Silver Jewelry

Silver has come back into style these days, which makes economic sense, as it is much cheaper than gold, and can look just as beautiful. You can of course buy jewelry from reputable jewellers, and this would be the safest option. However, for sheer volume of choice, you cannot beat the internet. Here the whole world becomes the marketplace, and you can find the best deals without leaving your armchair. However, you will be parting with good money, and giving it to someone you do not know, so there is much more risk than if you buy from a physical shop: you can always go back there and complain, whereas with internet purchases you will probably only have an internet address.

The trade off for this risk is of course the fact that you will get your jewelry much cheaper than from a jeweller’s shop. They have got physical premises to maintain, staff to pay and expensive inventory to keep. The internet wholesaler probably has his own jewelry maker, and will only get pieces made when he gets the order. This “just in time” inventory system allows him to have virtually no overhead costs to maintain. Dell computers have built a huge computer business using the same principle.

If you do decide that the lower price is worth the risk, make sure that the silver you buy is sterling silver. You can tell this from the markings on the silver: sterling silver will nearly always have the mark of ‘925’, signifying that this silver is of the highest quality. There is only one grade of sterling silver: it is either sterling silver or it is not.

The main cost of sterling silver jewelry will be in the making of the piece, especially if it is hand made. Here again, the internet wholesaler has an advantage over the local jewelry store. Just as you have a wide choice of sellers, so they have a wide range of manufacturers, who may be in a different country. There are lots of highly skilled silversmiths working in third world countries for much lower wages than a local craftsman would command, and this helps to drive the retail cost down even further.

If you are satisfied that you have bought sterling silver, the only thing which should now concern you is the quality of the setting. Unfortunately you cannot check this before you receive the piece, so minimise your risk by doing some normal diligence on the person from whom you are buying. Has he been in business long? This doesn’t mean in the internet business, this means in the jewelry business. Does he have a list of satisfied customers? Type his name into a search engine and see what comes up.

One big drawback with sterling silver is that it tarnishes easily. If you watch historical dramas on TV you will remember that one of the parlourmaid’s jobs was to clean the silver cutlery. This was an almost daily chore, and while it may not be a daily job for you, it is still a job which needs to be done on a regular basis. Use a retail silver polish: there are many available on the market, or your local jeweller will certainly have one.

To summarise, buying your sterling silver from the internet will be a risk, just like buying anything from the internet. It is more so with jewelry, as jewelry is more expensive than most other things. It is up to you to keep this risk to a minimum by doing your homework on the seller before you get seduced by the low prices.