Jewelry Shoppers Top Ten Tips

Written by Sam Serio


Buying jewelry can be fun, exciting and confusing. Whether you’re considering a gift of jewelry for someone special or as a treat for yourself, take some time to learnrepparttar terms used inrepparttar 145837 industry. Here’s some information to help you getrepparttar 145838 best quality jewelry for your money, whether you’re shopping in a traditional brick and mortar store or online.

Top Ten Tips

1.When you’re inrepparttar 145839 market for a piece of jewelry for yourself or someone you love, shop around. Compare quality, price, and service. If you’re not familiar with any jewelers in your area, ask family members, friends, and co-workers for recommendations. 2.Ask forrepparttar 145840 store’s refund and return policy before you buy. 3.Check forrepparttar 145841 appropriate markings on metal jewelry. 4.Ask whetherrepparttar 145842 pearls are natural. cultured, or imitation. 5.Ask whetherrepparttar 145843 gemstones have been treated. Isrepparttar 145844 change permanent? Is special care required? 6.Make surerepparttar 145845 jeweler writes onrepparttar 145846 sales receipt any information you relied on when making your purchase, such asrepparttar 145847 gem’s weight or size. Some jewelers also may supply a grading report form a gemological laboratory.

The Sterling Silver Story

Written by Sam Serio


Silver isrepparttar most common ofrepparttar 145836 Precious Metals. It’s working qualities are very similar to gold. Pure silver, which is seldom used for jewelry because it is too soft. Silver weighs about half as much as gold and has greater flexibility. Though silver is not as malleable as gold it can achieve a more brilliant polish. In fact, silver shines above all other metals in this respect. Silver has been used for many centuries, going back to ancient times, but because it tarnishes and decomposes; it has not survived as well as gold. Periodically, however, silver enjoys great popularity as it does currently. As far asrepparttar 145837 price goes, silver generally lags behind gold by about four or five times. The price of silver jewelry followsrepparttar 145838 price of gold jewelry, however, so as gold rises, silver inevitably does too. The words silver or sterling silver describe a product that contains 92.5% silver. Silver products sometimes may be marked 925, which means that 925 parts per thousand are pure silver. Some jewelry may be described as silver plate: a layer of silver is bonded to a base metal. The mark coin silver is used for compounds that contain 90% silver.

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