Your .925 Sterling Silver Jewelry Store

Current Silver Market Price

Summer 2008

The white hot, white metal trend in jewelry continues to spiral up in the new millennium. Silver, White Gold, Platinum and Rhodium enjoy increasing popularity regardless of fashion forecaster's periodic announcements of the resurgence of Yellow Gold Jewelry. For the last ten years the surge in popularity of white precious metals was simply a color preference. Today we also see affordability spurring this trend.

At this writing, August 2008, Silver is hovering around $13.00 dollars an ounce and as recently as last March spiked to nearly $22.00. Then we saw soaring oil prices as Silver and Gold followed suit. The recent plunge in crude has carried the metals market down just as it carried them up. The then weaking dollar is showing more strength. What's in store? The Middle East with it's problems and now the Georgia/Russian oil supply to western Europe is all pretty shakey. To think oil will go down and stay there is certainly a stretch at best. My opinion, (for what it's worth) Silver should stabilize around $15.50 to $16.00 for several months and into the new year.

Most often a shortage of a particular commodity will cause a similar rapid price increase. This is not the case as it relates to silver. The world's two largest industrial users of silver, Kodak and Fuji, have dropped to a trickle of their former usage since the advent of digital photography. Although many potentially huge new markets for silver are being developed, primarily in the medical field, we do have plenty of silver available.

How does all of this effect what you can expect to spend for your Sterling Silver Jewelry? Don't care? Scroll down just a bit for today's spot price.

The cycle begins with the producer or manufacturer of the jewelry. This has been a particularly troublesome number one step in getting the product to you the customer. These companies purchase such large quantities of silver that it becomes a prime concern to them as to what day they ship. As an example: A wholesaler/importer may place an order when silver is $17.50 an ounce. If the price per ounce goes up from the day the order was placed until the jewelry is produced the order ships on time. However, if silver drops the manufacturer will sit on the goods waiting for an opportunity to ship at a higher price. Try to give a customer a delivery date with this in play.

Stage two is the distributor or wholesaler. Most are reluctant to maintain the same levels of inventory as they did in the past. Where one phone call to a trusted supplier of many years would have fulfilled the immediate needs of a retailer, now, it may take three or four different importers to find the jewelry needed. Distributors are also being forced to follow the market closely. In past years if the market nudged a bit in either direction hardly any attention was paid to that movement. With the current price fluctuations a retailer could easily pay more for jewelry on Monday than Friday or vice versa.

Price increases in Sterling Silver Jewelry meet high resistance from consumers to major chain store buyers. Perhaps the reasoning behind this could be that gold at a $1000.00 an ounce is a common "water cooler" subject. It seems nobody mentioned silver at $22.00 an ounce....unless of course you're in the industry.

8 hour (New York) $US Dollar price per ounce.

Why not have some fun and click on the historic charts and pat yourself on the back for the really super buys you made in silver jewelry five years ago.

Written by and Copyright © Doug Clemens www.sausalitosilver.com

About The Author:
Doug has been involved with almost every facet of the Sterling Silver Jewelry industry since 1974. His experience includes manufacturing, importing and distribution, resource for major department stores and independents, as well as the owner of retail outlets.

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