Silver seems to be in with a capital I. The process of rhodium plating has given silver a whole new look, but most people do not even know what rhodium is.
Rhodium is from the platinum family of precious metals and is one of the rarest elements on earth! Rhodium is bright white in colour and extremely hard making it ideal for jewellery plating as its very scratch resistant. Rhodium has been used for the last few years to plate silver jewellery as it is very resistant to corrosion, so will protect your silver from tarnishing. The rhodium gives it a shine that looks like white gold or platinum and with it still being a precious metal it means that you are not compromising with quality, just saving money. Rhodium plating or "platinum enhanced sterling silver" as it's sometimes known, means that your silver will not go dull and grey like silver items from previous generations. Major fashion houses like Tiffany are producing some stunning lines in silver, along with other major designers like Gucci and Christian Dior.
When rhodium plated jewellery is combined with semi precious stones, you get a very desirable look at an affordable price. The semi precious stones for next season have to be peridot and bright cubic zirconia, there is still a strong influence of men and women wearing cubic zirconia instead of diamonds. The quality of cubic zirconia are so good now it is very difficult to tell the difference between a CZ and a good quality diamond. For a fashion item why spend hundreds on a diamond when a CZ will cost a fraction of the price, look very much the same and do the same job?
The future of jewellery and in particular silver is rosy. Women will always want jewellery, and no woman will ever have enough earrings or rings in her jewellery box. Silver is becoming a more precious and scarce material. With modern manufacturing and high standards of machine jewellery rather than hand made items the versatility is not only promising but also a method to be watched intently
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