Some trends such as haircuts (think of the shag), clothing, and music (remember disco) enjoy a surge of popularity only to be discarded when the next new trend appears. However, there are some trends that remain popular and truly stand the test of time. Silver jewelry is a classic. It continues to innovate while still using vintage pieces creatively.

Stacked bracelets and necklaces
A hot trend is stacked bracelets and necklaces. It was first a style that celebrities wore, but the masses soon followed. You can use bracelets and necklaces you already own. These vintage pieces will create uniqueness because they are not currently sold. Also, you can add a few ones to the mix. Remember that you can mix up metal types too. Mix up a variety of sterling silver jewelry such as bracelets in various sizes. You can add as many as you would like. For example, combine bangles, cuffs and tighter bracelets. It provides a great contrast. Remember if your accessories are big, keep your outfit simple. This looks good on everyone.

Interlocking Hoops
A bare neck, unadorned with necklaces, is very pretty with a simple sleeveless white dress. This is the look for the summer when the skin has a golden glow. It is a stripped down look, but what really pulls it together is interlocking hoops. It draws the attention to the face and ears. Silver jewelry infuses a classic yet modern look to any outfit. The hoops are available in various sizes. Silver hoops are attractive on all women.

The Multi-Charm Necklace
A charm necklace is the ultimate in personal jewelry. It reflects your likes, your hobbies, your profession or anything else that is meaningful to you. This is the update on the charm bracelet that we all had as a little girl. It is really simple to achieve. The foundation is a chain or a cord. Then accessorize with lovely silver jewelry. The charms can include: an alphabet letter, cross, sports related such as a tennis racquet, mascots, astrological signs, toys, games, doll, baby blocks, good luck charm, tools, ocean life, military, the peace symbol design, heart, dog, frog and many more. The multi-charm necklace signifies to the world that you are unique and certainly not afraid to show it!

Silver Rings
Another hot trend is the continuing love of silver rings. It is a way to draw attention to your hands. It also gives a young hip look that we all aspire to. Sterling silver jewelry such as silver rings is stylish and unique and looks great with any outfit. Some styles of silver rings include braided fashion wave ring, ladies wavy thumb ring, filigree ring, ichthus ring, Celtic Claddagh ring and a ring with two hearts lock together. There is a wide variety from which to choose. Again, it is about choosing a style that reflects your personality while looking great.

Sarah Carnagie is head of product development for Dreamland Jewelry, the leading online retailer of Sterling Silver Jewelry. For more information and to find a stunning selection of Sterling Silver Jewelry at 70% off retail, and to find the largest online selections available anywhere, please visit http://www.dreamlandjewelry.com today!

Silver is a phenomenal metal and the properties that silver possesses are ideal when artists and designers set out to create a stunning piece of jewelry. Silver is able to achieve the most brilliant polish of any metal. This is due to the fact that silver has the highest degree of optical reflectivity of all the metals reflecting 95% of all visible light.

Silver is also very soft and malleable. Due to this high malleability designers are able to shape and mold the silver into an infinite number of forms letting them create bold, beautiful, and artistic pieces of jewelry.

So what exactly is "Sterling Silver"? Sterling silver refers to an alloy (a combination of metals). Sterling silver is a combination of 92.5% silver and usually 7.5% copper. So why combine the two metals? Why not just use 100% pure silver? The answer lies in the paragraph above. We cannot use pure silver, simply because pure silver is just too malleable. It will not hold it's shape, thus we need to combine the silver with a harder metal.

So why does sterling silver turn brown/black? This is called tarnishing, and it is a natural property of sterling silver. Over time through oxidation (contact with air) and exposure to other materials (sulfur is a main culprit), sterling silver will tarnish. Some refer to tarnish as "patina" and many people even love the lustrous color of patina. However, there are ways to remove tarnish or patina. A cloth made to clean sterling silver will usually have chemicals gentle enough to remove patina. Harsh dips and creams are never recommended because they are too abrasive and can scratch and damage your jewelry. NEVER EVER use toothpaste!

Now that you have learned more about this beautiful metal, go out and treat yourself to a wonder piece of sterling silver jewelry!

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The term hallmark comes from 'Mark of the Hall of Goldsmiths' in London, who were the first official assay hallmarking office, decreed by Parliament to control the standard of precious metals circulating in the British Isles. To this day they still operate one of four authorized assay offices in Britain.

Forms of marking precious metal objects were around from the Byzantine period in the early part of the first millennium A.D. However, it was under the rule of king Edward I of England, known as 'Edward Longshanks' due to his size, that hallmarking was first established. 'Longshanks', also called 'The Hammer' as a result of his merciless subjugation of Wales and Scotland, was both feared and revered by friend and foe alike.

If you have seen Braveheart then you are already familiar with the films depiction of Edward 'Longshanks' as a crazed tyrant: however, in reality he was more diplomatic. 'Longshanks' founded the British Parliament based on the premise of 'Parlez', from the French verb meaning 'To talk', where subjects could approach the King to resolve problems. He also reestablished the Magna Carta, and introduced constitutional government passing laws such as ‘No taxation without representation’: meaning that no tax could be levied without consent of Parliament.

Besides waging wars, fighting crusades, having 16 children and other sovereignly pursuits, Longshanks also bought into effect the first consumer laws. He enacted a statute that regulated all silver articles be tested and approved only when meeting the sterling silver standard of .925 parts pure silver to the 1000. He decreed that sterling silver objects were to be assayed by ‘Guardians of the Craft’, who would then mark the approved item with a leopard's head: signifying the hallmark of the London assay office still in use today. By the later stages of the 14th Century hallmarking had been refined to encompass not just the assay office's stamp of approval, but also the marks of the individual maker and the date system allowing the accurate dating of any hallmarked piece.

Three hundred years later, at the turn of the 17th Century when King George I of the Hanoverian dynasty succeeded the English throne, a higher standard of silver known as 'Britannia Silver' was made compulsory in the British Isles. Britannia Silver, .958 parts silver to the 1000, was bought in to protect the new coinage, made from .925 sterling silver, which was being melted down by silversmiths to make jewelry and objects of ornamentation. If the objects in question, tested by the assay office, were found to contain only .925 parts to the 1000 then the silversmith responsible faced a heavy price.

When an article of silver didn't comply with the required standard, the assay offices were ordered to destroy the silver object and fine the silversmith. If the silversmith offended for a second time, he faced public humiliation in the 'Pillory' stocks and was pelted with rotten fruit. If he did it again a limb would be hacked off, and the persistent offender would eventually be put to death. The reason behind these Draconian enforcements, the ultimate in quality control, was that the manufacturing of silver was united with the minting of currency. Therefore, by debasing these metals a silversmith was undermining the coinage of the realm, a treasonable offence. However, by 1720 the sterling silver standard was restored by Parliament.

With the expansion of the English Empire and its accumulated trade wealth other cities outside of London such as Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester, Chester and Birmingham prospered. Referred to as the city of a thousand and one trades, Birmingham, and most of the midlands of England, boomed as it embraced the Industrial Revolution. In 1760, John Betts & Sons opened the first precious metal refinery in Birmingham's northern Hockley suburb.

The foundries attracted many different trades people: gunsmiths, button manufacturers, toy makers, silversmiths and jewelers who all established different areas as the center for their workshops. However, the silversmiths still had to make a long journey to Chester or London by horse and carriage to have their products assayed. The Industrial period brought about incredible wealth, but it brought poverty to most forcing people to commit desperate deeds in order to survive. A criminal trend in the spirit of Robin Hood, which became quite fashionable during the period, was the impoverished gentleman's act of relieving the nouveaux riche industrialists of their wealth along England's highways.

This extract is taken from 'The London Evening Post's' November 1749 article on Plunket and Maclaine's robbery of Horace Walpole. Walpole was a writer and also the son of Sir Robert Walpole, lord of the treasury and English prime minister. "The man with the blunderbuss swore he would shoot him, if he spoke, bid him give him his watch, and then riding up to the chariot, they took Mr. Walpole's sword, and some silver from the footman, and rode off to Kensington Gate."

Dick Turpin, Tom King, Captain Gallagher, 'Swift Nick', Plunket and Maclaine all became English folk heroes to the cries of 'Stand and Deliver'. However, for the likes of Industrialists such as Mathew Boulton and Birmingham's silversmiths these felons spelt financial ruin. In 1773, after intense lobbying in London's Parliament by Matthew Boulton, owner of Birmingham's Soho factory, permission was granted for both Birmingham and Sheffield to have their own assay offices in order to thwart highway robbery.

Read Sterling Silver Jewelry – The History Of Hallmarking In The British Isles Part II.

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