Silver is a beautiful alternative to its more expensive counterpart white gold but it must be remembered that it also requires considerably more care than white gold as well. Silver tends to tarnish after having it for a very long time, although certain pieces do look quite beautiful with the tarnish on it. I received an antique piece as a gift that is silver and turquoise and its quite tarnished but it is a beautiful piece. It almost appears as if it is a mix of silver and gold because of the tarnish which gives it a really original and aged look.

Many times you can polish your silver after it tarnishes and it will look much better but if you really want to completely remove the tarnish you can also purchase products made specifically for that reason. Some of these products include Silver Lighting and Tarn-X. Both of these products are said to completely remove tarnish from silver jewelry and any other silver you may be looking to clean up.

If you do somewhat like the tarnished look then you may want to look for pieces that have a lot of detail and/or etchings and such in them. These areas on the silver pieces will be the first to tarnish which will add depth and a considerable amount of otherwise missing character to the piece. What happens to these pieces that have these intricate patterns is the etchings in them turn a dark, almost black color that looks quite interesting compared to the brightness of the silver. This makes the piece of jewelry look much more original than it otherwise would.

Another thing to remember when it comes to buying silver jewelry is that because of the varying look silver can have due to things such as the tarnish and etchings or engravings it can sometimes be easy to mistake lower quality silver or even fake silver for high quality sterling or alloy silver. If you end up with fake silver you will find that it will leave green marks on your skin when its worn to long. This could end up being quite embarrassing if you buy a fake piece for a gift for someone so its wise to look into how to tell the difference between fake and real silver.

So, when you get ready to do your holiday shopping this year and you decide that you want to purchase jewelry for that special person on your gift list be sure to keep in mind both the benefits and the drawbacks (as few as there may be) of buying silver verses gold, or white gold. On one hand silver is much more inexpensive than either of the other precious metals often used for jewelry but on the other hand it also takes a little more care than either gold or white gold. Also remember that when buying silver it is easier to pass a fake off as real than it is when buying gold.

If you keep these things in mind you will be sure to give an extra special gift to someone on your list this year.

jarrie wilson is the manager of handmade sterling silver jewelry site, 925wholesale.com. for information about sterling silver jewelry visit customized silver jewelry.

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