By now, you’ve probably seen my post on how to choose between buying gold jewelry or silver jewelry. If you paid very close attention, you would’ve noticed a statement in parentheses that advocated for buying silver. That was my personal bias coming through. And I know, I know, writers are not supposed to let their personal biases show in their work. Especially as explicitly as mine did in that piece. However, this is not a newspaper, this is a blog column. And I am not going to hide my love for silver jewelry for the sake of an unattainable standard of writing.

My history with silver started around the age of 9. I had a bunch of jewelry that turned out to be toxic and my mom told me she had to throw it away (read the top 5 toxic metals post for the whole story). In exchange for getting rid of the cadmium-laced bracelets, she promised to go buy me a real sterling silver piece. And she did. I got a cute silver necklace with a cat on it on both sides of the pendant. It has now tarnished beyond repair, but it started my tiny but mighty silver necklace collection.

I intend to grow that collection. Here’s why: 

1. Matches my skin tone, eye color, and clothes I wear (most of the time): I have very fair skin, blue-grey eyes, and I tend to wear lots of clothing that have cool colors (blue, purple, green) or neutral tones. Silver pairs perfectly all three of these things while gold doesn’t. Silver goes well with it while gold tends to make me look unwell unless I wear it over a piece of clothing. 

2. Not toxic (for the most part): Gold jewelry can contain traces of mercury or cyanide in it while silver jewelry’s only bad substance within it is nickel (which isn’t even in all pieces of silver jewelry anyways.) Nickel is only toxic to those with an allergy and therefore, I consider it the lesser of two evils in this situation. I have no nickel allergy, I’m super afraid of radiation, so I pick silver. 

3. Cheaper than gold: I am a bit of a cheapskate when it comes to buying clothing and jewelry. I do not want the most expensive clothes or jewelry possible because I can buy clothes and jewelry of similar or better quality from a designer or store that does not have the Gucci, Dior, Chanel, or Armani type of label on it. Silver is cheaper than gold and it is of a very high quality as well so again, silver wins for me. 

As you can see, I use these specific reasons that go along with my methodology for picking gold or silver from my gold or silver post. These reasons and my personal history with the precious metal are why silver will always win for me. And if you want jewelry that aligns with all the attributes I described above, I suggest you let silver win too.