The Silver Site Blog

Festive Cheer

admin — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 12:19:24 +0000

As December is upon us this week, here at the Silver Site we are beginning to feel quite festive. My 8year old twins helped to decorate our shop ‘Silver Lining’ in Huddersfield. We have pink and white miniature Christmas trees, silver reindeer and dry snow, with little snowflake shapes appearing to be falling on our window. It was good to share such a fun festive task with the next generation. Maybe we will be sending them off as part of the buying team one day! As I walk into the shop I feel like we should be giving out hot mulled wine and mince pies – watch this space.

Our sales team have done a wonderful job preparing the jewellery in the cabinets. We have some lovely Sterling silver earring and pendant sets already boxed in our lovely velvet boxes, for that last minute present. We have some old favourites back, like the solid Sterling Silver bike chain bracelets – very unusual. Also the heavy link silver bracelets with little barbelles slotted in between the links – unique and stylish.

Whatever you want in Sterling Silver this festive Season (whether it’s handmade, ethnic designs, natural solid opals, amathysts, moonstones, marcasite…) you will find it on the Silver Site or in our shop (3 Market ave.,Huddersfield, HD1 2BB).

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Birthstone for November

admin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:33:24 +0000

The birthstone for November is topaz. Topaz is mined in various countries and generally comes out of the ground as a colourless stone which is then heat treated to produce a blue coloured topaz. Properties for topaz include strength, mental awareness, clarity of thinking, and health. Other alternatives to topaz include yellow citrine. We do a lovely range of topaz jewellery that includes both blue topaz and the more esoteric mystic topaz.

Follow the link to see http://www.thesilversite.co.uk/topaz and silver jewellery

Mytsic topaz drop pendant with amethyst

The History of Silver

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:00:47 +0000

Things have changed a lot in the silver world since man first mined silver in the times before ancient civilisations knew its worth. It was a fairly simple process with most silver being dug out of the ground and made into various crude but sometimes ornate pieces of jewellery. Whereas gold was always associated with the sun, silver was associated with the moon. As times past the silver was further refined to increase its strength and give it more durability and anti-wear properties. Today most silver jewelry pieces are 92.5% silver with the rest of the metal being made up of copper.

What is Hill Tribe Silver?

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:37:05 +0000

Hill Tribe Silver originates around the northern borders of Thailand. It is made from almost pure silver i.e. 97% to 99.7% silver and as such is very soft and easy to work with. Sterling silver on the other hand is 92.5% silver with added quantities of certain ores to making it stronger and more durable. As Hill Tribe silver doesn’t have any additives it is less likely to cause an allergic reaction in people who have allergies. Hill tribe silver came about after the second world war when the Hill Tribes around the border with Burma were forced to move into Thailand by the military government of Burma. His Majesty King Bhumiphol Adyuladej ( Rama IX ) set up the Royal Development Project for Hill Tribes to try and develop industries that would help the economy of the various hill tribe peoples. The Karen people are the most numerous of the hill tribes and they have developed a silver industry with unique and creative designs.

Birthstone for October

admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:39:36 +0000

Depending on where you do your research there are a number of stones that could be called the birthstone for October. One of my favorites is opal. Opals come in many colours and sizes. Black opals have a darker colour and fire opals have swirls and patterns in the stone resembling reds and blues. Most of the firestone opals come from Mexico but opals are also mined in Brazil, Australia and a number of states in the USA.

Opals can be cut and mounted in a variety of different shapes and sizes. Here at www.thesilversite.co.ukwe only sell top grade opals from Australia and they are all solid opals. That is to say they are not slices of opals that you will find in cheaper pieces of jewellery but real, whole opals. We sell a wide and collectable range of opals set in sterling silver and they are all hand picked for their colours and intensity. One of my favourite pieces is a solid opal pendant mounted in sterling silver that just looks fantastic on any occasion.

Opal pendant

New Twitter Account

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 07:49:16 +0000

For a while I was pondering the validity of starting a twitter account and then I thought why not? Could be useful and it could be a way of informing customers what’s new in the way of silver. Its a bit more responsive than a blog in that you can tweet any time of the day or night and get instant feedback, whereas a blog is a bit more of a read once a week thing. Things to tweet about have not just been about silver but also about the town I live, love and work in, Huddersfield. So if you want to follow me just go to twitter and search for The Silver Site. https://twitter.com/thesilversite

How to Clean Silver

admin — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:01:03 +0000

There are a myriad number of ways to clean silver but the best way I find is to wear your jewellery and then it doesn’t tarnish. However you can’t wear everything so if you need to store it for any length of time then try and ensure that your pieces are kept in an air tight container with no organic materials stored with them. By organic I mean wood, leather linings, silk etc. These materials tend to enhance the tarnishing process. If you do need to clean your silver items then a soft silver cloth, impregnated with silver polish will usually do the job. For hard to get at areas use an old toothbrush and gently rub it on the affected areas. For items that are too intricate then a dipping solution will be a good alternative. However read the instructions very carefully and do not dip soft stones i.e. amber, pearls, opals. etc. Finally remember to rinse well to get rid of all the cleaning residue.

Birthstone for June

admin — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 19:38:36 +0000

People are always coming into the shop and asking me what the birthsone is for June so I decided to do a little research. Trawled the web and found that this partilcular months birthstone can range from pearls, alexandrite, moonstone to cats eyes, and light amethyst. So take your pick but for a definitative guide I went to Wikipedia and found that they suggest three categories of birthstone, modern, mystical and ayurvedic with moonstone, moonstone and pearl and pearl matching up to the corresponding categories. At the moment we have some fantasict moonstone pendants and rings so if you know anybody who has a birthday in June then why not treat them and buy them a stunning piece of jewellery that will last forever.

Welcome

admin — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:31:56 +0000

We are a silver jewellery shop based in Market Avenue and have been trading for nearly ten years. Its our anniversary soon!! Party time perhaps.

Just a little about our shop. As mentioned above we sell all sorts of sterling silver jewellery. At the moment we sell a fantastic range of opal jewellery set in sterling silver which looks fantastic.