Heart Charm Price: $4.99

Heart Charm Ring Price: $18.45

Heart Tag Bracelet Price: $43.56

Concave Curb Chain Price: $93.17

Silver Jewelry

Silver, like gold, is too soft for jewelry in its pure form. Sterling silver, which is used for jewelry and silverware, is 92.5% pure. The remaining 7.5% is metal alloys used to make the silver less malleable. When purchasing sterling silver jewelry, make sure it is marked with 925.

Silver jewelry has the widest range of prices compared to other precious metal jewelry. At a silver kiosk in the mall, a plain silver band may cost less than $10. However, if you go to a high end jewelry store like Tiffany's, a similar silver band may cost $100 or more. How can prices vary so much? Assuming that the rings are about the same size, the actual value of the silver is the same. There is no such thing as higher quality silver used in more expensive silver jewelry.

The biggest difference in price comes from craftsmanship and finish. Most jewelry today is made by machines, which are able to produce consistent high quality designs.

However, the finishing and polishing of a silver chain is usually done by hand, which is laborious and expensive. Silver actually has the highest reflective property of all the precious metals, including gold and platinum. So an expert jeweler can polish a silver piece to a high sheen with a mirror-like finish. If you were to compare a silver ring from a mall kiosk and Tiffany's, I'm sure the most striking difference between the two would be the high sheen finish.

The one inconvenience with owning silver jewelry is that it tarnishes over time, unlike gold or platinum. Fine silverware always turn greenish-black if left unpolished for months at a time. Just like silverware, you should use a silver polishing cloth and silver cleaning solution to clean your silver jewelry once every few months.