Why to Avoid Silver Engagement Rings

Though silver is considered to be a precious metal, grooms should avoid buying silver engagement rings and there’s good reason why. I know it may seem like a great way to save a little money versus more expensive precious metals like gold or platinum, but the fact of the matter is that silver is simply an inferior metal for jewelry meant to last a long time. If you’re looking for proof on this matter, you should look no further than the price of the metal itself. The free markets tend to appraise precious metals based on their usefulness and intrinsic value, so seeing that silver is a fraction of the value of gold or platinum should be an obvious reason why to avoid silver engagement rings regardless of how tight your budget is.

However, if you’re like most thrifty shoppers, you will not always believe there’s a direct correlation between the cost of a metal and its ability to be turned into a high quality ring. Truth be told, there are many items such as certain fashion lines that are very trumped up and carry prices tags ten to twenty times higher than they should be just because people are willing to pay the price. However, silver actually has a laundry list of flaws that make it a poor choice for engagement rings, and I have listed a collection of those reasons below.

• Silver tarnishes easier than most metals, and it is also more flexible and malleable than most other metals which makes it easy to bend. As you wear your silver engagement ring over the years and put in on and off, it will start to become misshaped and turn more into an oval.
• Beyond being easy to bend, they also scratch and pit very easily. Fortunately, while there isn’t much you can do about shape distortion, you can keep the silver ring looking nice by polishing it every few months.
• Silver engagement rings are not water friendly. You must remove your silver ring each time before washing your hand or going into the water or else it will tarnish. Each time you take off your ring, you run the risk of losing or forgetting it; especially in a public restroom or other public location.
• Silver is typically less pure than other precious metals and contain impurities or other alloys which can cause skin irritations or rashes after extended exposure times. If you are more sensitive than the average person, silver rings can even cause your skin to turn black or green.
• Though buying silver rings that are plated with other precious metals like yellow gold, white gold, or platinum is a popular choice the plating is usually very thing and will rub through in a short period of time. Also, if you opt to go with white gold, the plating is already plated with rhodium to give it the white coloration from where it gets its name. Plating a metal with a metal that is already plated is a bad idea as it hastens the timeframe that the plating will wear off.
• Because silver is so much less expensive, the gemstones you’ll find are usually non-precious or fake diamonds such as cubic zirconia. While you can rarely find a precious stone set into a silver ring setting, it’s very uncommon and the selection will likely be slim.

As you can see above, there are many reasons that silver engagement rings are cheaper than other more traditional types of rings, and for good reason. When buying an engagement ring, you truly get what you pay for; and I think you should take your time to save the right amount of money to get a ring that you both will cherish forever. After all, isn’t she worth every penny?