Sterling Silver Rings

[m33pm33p]

Anyone have any experience with Sterling silver rings? Ive read differing opinions on the matter. I myself have only ever owned one ring and that's my wedding ring which is white gold. I'm thinking of giving my wife a birthstone ring for Christmas and looking at all the options.

White gold is obviously more pricey than the silver but its also our daughters first birthday around Christmas so we will probably be spending a good chunk of change on her.

Opinions? Experiences? Idea's? This will obviously be TRUE sterling not something cheaper.

Also, birthstones, daughter/mother...daughter and mine? Most of the birthstone rings with just one stone I've seen I don't think she'd like so trying for two, not sure what would make more sense though.

Thanks!

 

[wiredspider]

So what exactly is the question? A sterling silver ring, even with some kinda birthstone should be under $50?

 

[lxskllr]

I prefer silver to gold. I like that it tarnishes, and gains character. As a side bonus, it's much cheaper than gold.

 

[m33pm33p]

So what exactly is the question? A sterling silver ring, even with some kinda birthstone should be under $50?

Did you even remotely read what I wrote or no?

I was asking for opinions and experiences for sterling silver rings. Ive already looked into prices on what I want to purchase. Ive never owned a sterling silver piece of jewelry so not sure on its qualities or if I'd just be wasting my money. Id be looking at about ~175ish for the ring Im looking at in silver and if silver really isnt worth the money Id rather spend the extra and go with white gold.

 

[VOdka1000]

What kind of gold ring are you looking for ?
12, 14, 18K
What stone ?
I have few I could sell.
Pm me...

 

[DestinyKnight]

Sliver has different characteristics from white gold. It just depends on what your budget is, and what you are looking for in a precious metal.

Fine silver - 99.99% silver. Doesn't tarnish like sterling, but is softer and has a slightly less bright finish when polished.

Sterling Silver - 92.5% silver, an alloy with copper and zinc. Harder, so it takes abuse, but tarnishes rapidly due to the copper content. Takes a bright, deep polish.

Argentium Silver - a Sterling silver alloy but with significantly less copper in it, replaced by Germanium. This gives the material a similar hardness to Sterling, but with the advantage that it is extremely slow to tarnish.

Something else to consider when dealing with silver; some people have strong negative reactions (allergic) to the metal and cannot wear it. Individuals with a high PH body chemistry can slowly eat through the metal when it is worn long-term, ruining the finish on the jewelry.

Many small-time custom jewelers work exclusively in silver due to the high cost of gold, so if you're looking for something unique, one of a kind and hand crafted, it will likely be argentium or sterling unless you pay upfront for gold at current market price.

If you buy an item set in sterling silver and it has a stone in it, make sure the stone will not be harmed by common jewelry cleaning chemicals designed for cleaning sterling sliver. Turquoise and precious opal for example can be ruined by certain chemical cleaners.

 

[m33pm33p]

My budget is really whatever the best deal I can find is. My daughters birthstone is Topaz(Dec.) and my wife's is peridot. The main thing I was trying to get at really is if I would just be wasting my money going with sterling silver. I dont want to break the bank either because we'd like to go all out for my daughters first birthday.

That being said I was looking at 10k white gold, the price difference between what I was looking at in silver and white gold is ~150 for the sterling and ~350 for the white gold.

The biggest problem here is my wife has extremely picky taste on this kind of jewelry. She's not your every day I love diamonds kind of chick. She likes a more unique type of style I guess you could say.

Thanks for all the help..

 

[HumblePie]

Try a tungsten carbide ring without the cobalt content. Even cheaper, looks better, and lasts MUCH longer. Also people don't have allergic reactions to it.

 

[m33pm33p]

Try a tungsten carbide ring without the cobalt content. Even cheaper, looks better, and lasts MUCH longer. Also people don't have allergic reactions to it.

I don't think I have ever seen a tungsten ring with any kind of gemstone in it though.

I didn't think of looking at that yet though, appreciate the idea.

 

[hanoverphist]

i wear 7 rings on a daily basis, all of them silver except one stainless steel. my old wedding band (not one of the 7) was white gold, and i loved it. sterling silver is durable, keeps its shape for the most part (unless youre in a field that uses hand tools regularly) and feels good to wear. it is much more durable than the old 18k gold rings i have had over the years, and i think the patina you can get with it enhances the jewelry overall. ive been wearing some of these rings for about 18-20 years. all of them are over 6 years on my fingers. some people place high value on silver for its spiritual properties.

 

[m33pm33p]

i wear 7 rings on a daily basis, all of them silver except one stainless steel. my old wedding band (not one of the 7) was white gold, and i loved it. sterling silver is durable, keeps its shape for the most part (unless youre in a field that uses hand tools regularly) and feels good to wear. it is much more durable than the old 18k gold rings i have had over the years, and i think the patina you can get with it enhances the jewelry overall. ive been wearing some of these rings for about 18-20 years. all of them are over 6 years on my fingers. some people place high value on silver for its spiritual properties.

7?!?! Holy smokes. Took me like 3 years just to get used to wearing my wedding band on a daily basis! :awe:

 

[hanoverphist]

7?!?! Holy smokes. Took me like 3 years just to get used to wearing my wedding band on a daily basis! :awe:

i had to scale back... when i was married i had 3 more rings i wore. i find myself in industrial electrical cabinets often at work, so i have to take them all off anyway.

 

[HumblePie]

There are tungsten and titanium rings with gems in them for women. Better quality in my opinion because they look good and are damn near impossible to damage. They are also less likely to develop an allergy from them.

People can actually develop an allergy to gold and not just the nickel that most gold jewelry alloys are made from. True gold is less likely of an allergy to develop than a nickel allergy which is far more common, but it can occur. Tungsten and titanium are even less likely to cause allergic reactions than gold.

 

[lokiju]

Try a tungsten carbide ring without the cobalt content. Even cheaper, looks better, and lasts MUCH longer. Also people don't have allergic reactions to it.

I was going to suggest tungsten as well.

I replaced my white gold wedding band with a tungsten band that cost all of $50 from a seller on amazon and I cannot be happier with it.

It seems impossible to scratch and all it takes is a wipe off with my shirt or any cloth and it looks brand new.

Granted, I don't recall ever seeing any tungsten rings with stones on them. Might be hard to do since the forming of the ring requires such extreme pressure and the metal is so strong.

 

[DestinyKnight]

From an investment perspective, a gold setting will always be more valuable than a silver setting. When it comes to gem stone rings the stone itself is the most important component. Get the best clarity, color, size, etc you can and make sure it is certified genuine by a Gemologist. Too many fakes on the market these days...

 

[m33pm33p]

I was going to suggest tungsten as well.

I replaced my white gold wedding band with a tungsten band that cost all of $50 from a seller on amazon and I cannot be happier with it.

It seems impossible to scratch and all it takes is a wipe off with my shirt or any cloth and it looks brand new.

Granted, I don't recall ever seeing any tungsten rings with stones on them. Might be hard to do since the forming of the ring requires such extreme pressure and the metal is so strong.

Exactly what I was thinking. I found some online, but they appear to just be bands with smaller gems in them. Which I actually really like. Gotta remember though this is for a woman! I always end up getting her something that in my head looks badass, but I forget in a womans head it's really not the same.

 

[alkemyst]

It's amazing the turn out at buying non-precious metals for a precious thing.

 

[m33pm33p]

It's amazing the turn out at buying non-precious metals for a precious thing.

Gotta be honest. Im not really sure what the hell you even said there.