Thrifted silver @ Saver Queen

Thrifted silver

Posted on September 12th, 2010 Saver Queen 4 comments

I’ve been meaning to write a short post on thrifting for silver. Lately I’ve been thrifting for more silver and brass items and polishing them at home. They are easy to overlook at the thriftstore, because the items are so tarnished and dirty. But if you polish them, up, you can end up with some really pretty pieces at a great price. Try to look beyond the item’s original condition and consider what it would look like with a little TLC. Just avoid any serious damage – if the item has really coroded or become green, it’s too far gone.

I’ve bought a number of vintage and modern silver pieces recently, my favourite being a set of bracelets.

Here’s the before picture (the one on the left has been partially cleaned, the rest are in their original state):

And the after:

Admittedly, these bracelets are probably just silver plated. They have no markings, and as Rick Harrison from Pawn Stars explains in the clip below, that probably means that they are not real silver. But I don’t mind, because the bracelets look stunning! I purchased this set of five bracelets for $2.99.

I’ve also purchased a beautiful silver plated tray for my candles for $2.99, an antique silver owl-shaped salt cellar for 50¢, and brass egg-shaped salt and pepper shakers for $1.

Here are some tips on how to identify real silver:

As a side note, Pawn Stars is a great show for lovers of antiques, collectibles and memorabilia and for people who like to thrift in general, because in addition to historical insight, the show provides useful information on how to identify quality and identify fakes and reproductions.

4 responses to “Thrifted silver”

psychsarah September 13th, 2010 at 09:50

So pretty! You have a great eye for lovely things. DH has totally gotten me into Pawn Stars-it’s a neat show.
Saver Queen September 13th, 2010 at 10:00

Haha somehow I’m not surprised that he’s into Pawn Stars. That’s awesome. Another reality TV show addiction begins…
Catherine September 13th, 2010 at 21:10

How lovely! Wear them in good health SQ. You have such an eye for special items and such good ideas…..
Tracey September 13th, 2010 at 21:50

Wonderful finds…sooo pretty! I agree, people tend to undervalue silver because of the maintenance involved (imho). We have bins of silver and silver~plate in the garage…all found for a song at yard sales. I go through and clean them and add them to the gift pantry as I go along. Nothing more charming than a vintage tea pot in a tea basket! I just love how you think.
Warmly,
Tracey
x0x
P.S. I’m lovin’ the Pawn Stars clip…great show but I sometimes think they aren’t always fair to the folks they buy from…just my opinion.