Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers
It’s no coincidence that you’re noticing brands like Catbird and Mociun — which are known for using 14k solid gold — offering more sterling-silver pieces recently. The price of gold stands at $5,165.60 an ounce (at least as of yesterday). For comparison’s sake, the price of silver is $85.46 an ounce. This is a big difference from where it was exactly a year ago, at $33.16 an ounce. You may be paying more for sterling silver in 2026 than you were in 2025, but you can still find a lot of sterling-silver pieces for under $500 (less so for solid gold — but I’ve found a few here).
If you’re a fine-jewelry collector like me, it makes a lot more sense to buy something in sterling silver rather than gold right now. But there are a few things to know. Unlike solid gold (or gold plated, gold filled, and vermeil), which is measured in karats (that’s the k in 14k, 18k, and 22k), genuine sterling silver will more often than not be marked with a “.925,” for the 92.5 percent pure silver it contains (the other 7.5 percent is other metals, such as copper). It could do with a good polishing, depending on how much you wear it — for specific cleaning instructions, we have a guide on how to clean silver.
Every pearl of wisdom I learned from years of jewelry collecting is in our guide to the best fine jewelry under $500. Think of this as the all sterling-silver edition, whether you’re someone who prefers Tiffany or you’re getting your first hoops. There’s everything here, from a quite medieval-y pair of pin-cushion earrings to a charm based on an Italian pastille.
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“A tiny replica of the key to your childhood home” that can be engraved with an address, lucky numbers, a wedding date, or anything else of numerical significance (up to four characters, including symbols like $, !, and #). It’s the only piece of jewelry actress Kat Dennings can’t live without.
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Thanks Dad sources lesser-used gems like iolite, hessonite, and morganite — or those in unusual hues like this tourmaline. The color of the rose quartz reminds me of a corner of a windowpane frosted with snow.
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Heidi Bivens, the costume designer for Euphoria, collaborated with Catbird on this homage to the great David Lynch, inspired by a picture of his hands and his epitaph, “Night Blooming Jasmine.”
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Our writer Arielle Avila can pair the Stevie from Mejuri — a brand we’ve said has “quality materials for less than what you’d typically pay at a traditional retailer” — with other rings easily. That includes a Spiral Shell Ring from Mignon Faget she wears daily.
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Kristin Scott Thomas thinks of her toe ring “like a wedding ring on my toe.” This trio of toe rings from Chan Luu can be split with friends (in lieu of a friendship bracelet) if you’re feeling sentimental.
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I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: Getting a Marla Aaron lock is a rite of passage. Modeled after hardware-store carabiners, Marla Aaron locks can be used as connectors. The Babylock is the most popular, but there’s everything from the Spring Lock and Regular Lock to a Mega Lock (with a price upon request).
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It may not have the enamel Bea Bongiasca is known for, but it’s another one of her “vine-twirled” figures. Sold as a single, it doesn’t require a pierced ear, either.
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Dunton Ellerkamp’s Owen studs appeared in last year’s Secret Strategist Gift Guide; I heard about them later from Saloon founder Julia Harrison. “They look simultaneously Space Age–y and like something calcified you pulled from the dirt,” Harrison says.
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“It has been said that Colin Firth is ‘the thinking woman’s heartthrob,’ and this, too, is Ted Muehling as jeweler,” says illustrator Joana Avillez. “Once you know the visual vocabulary to spot a Ted Muehling, you’ll see them everywhere. The identifier is that they are perfect.” As are these chips, thinly sliced like a Lay’s potato. (While the chips themselves are sterling silver, the ear wires are made from 14k yellow gold.)
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A pair of Ames’ Lizzies were high on our senior editor Hilary Reid’s holiday wish list (after she saw them on her friend Annie), with the pin-cushion design quite medieval-y.
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The minute our writer Kitty Guo discovered California Dirt, she couldn’t resist its “fluid, curved, nature-themed” pieces (which come in the shape of water droplets, sunbeams, and sea creatures). She has been wearing the Adivinia and Sol “pretty much every day” since getting them in 2023 and 2024, respectively. “These feel really solid and capable of taking a beating,” she tells me.
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Dorsey’s Maxwell is set with lab-grown moissanite, which is often billed as an alternative to diamond (you’ll see it in many an engagement ring). The earrings, also available in medium (for $380) and large ($505), themselves feature a Georgian-inspired prong setting and an old-fashioned latch-back closure.
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Thanks in part to the hinges, each ball spins.
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The spiral discs are not unlike a bird’s-eye view of a whirlpool or a symbol of a cycle — depending on your perspective.
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Our senior writer Lauren Ro saw Brennan’s Figaro Hoops on Stephanie Cleary of Morrow Soft Goods and immediately asked her about them. “They’re made in Los Angeles and have a subtle wave to them that feels so effortless,” Ro explains. And while she usually wears gold, they “look so good in silver” (and go well with the Maria Tash studs in her other piercings, which are white gold).
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An Italian pastille (available in flavors of black currant and eucalyptus menthol from a fourth-generation confectionery) that J.Hannah 3-D scanned to make a “wearable treat.”
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I’d say what the bellybutton ring was to the aughts, the waist chain is to the 2020s.
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For some reason, the garnet and green amethyst don’t read Christmasy.
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According to TenThousandThings, the beads originate from the ancient Fertile Crescent.
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How it’s made: a single coil of sterling-silver wire wrapped around and around (and around) in a way that’s part spaghetti, part garter-snake den.
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It’s the miniature version of Abel Objects’ Tilt Signet Ring, with the oval tilted at an angle.
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Editor Mallory Rice previously described Saphir Bachar jewelry to me as “substantial, sculptural, feminine, and warm all at once.” I think that description fits the Whorl Ring perfectly.
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The large Australian opal is a color of green that’s “natural but a little freaky, a little sour: If a normal green calls to mind healthy ferns and forests, these shades come straight from bogs and sulphuric hot springs,” says our writer Erin Schwartz.
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Can you tell Agmes used the infinity sign for inspiration? (This piece is called Inti after all.)
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Not diamond earrings in capitalized letters, but diamond earrings in lowercase.
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Ursa Major compares it to a traditional Chinese jade bangle (meaning you don’t have to take it off) and recommends sizing down — sizes available are extra-extra small, extra small, small, medium, large, extra large — based on the measurements of the interior dimensions listed.
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“Sophie Buhai is the queen of the small hoop,” according to Wall Street Journal art editor Alexandra Citrin-Safadi. Buhai’s cuff is just as sculptural as Buhai’s hoops without the commitment of a piercing.
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Gabriella Kiss (formerly Ted Muehling’s apprentice) is influenced by nature in the Hudson Valley — in this case, the “cow killer,” otherwise known as the velvet ant.
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Earlier this month, Kinn released its Silver Classics line, which includes the new Mercer Cuff Hoops. The clean lines match Kinn’s Françoise Ellipse Ring (based on the founder’s grandmother-in-law’s wedding band).
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As ethereal as a dandelion in the wind!
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Paloma Picasso originally designed a table setting for a Tiffany exhibition in 1979 — a year later, the idea for Paloma’s Graffiti came. I might like Picasso’s olive leaf (as from the groves surrounding her home in Marrakech) motif slightly more.
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There’s nothing more romantic than a fede ring — the clasped hands in the front open up to another ring in the middle. I haven’t seen a sterling-silver one in a long time.
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While Mociun by Caitlin Mociun is playful (as evidenced by its instant-ramen charm), CRZM by Mociun is elemental — and a whole lot cheaper. For comparison’s sake, the Boulder Ring is $495 in sterling silver and $2,500 in solid gold.
The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.