Yes, Silver is being manipulated! Listen to this expert:

Link

It seems no one is able to do anything to prevent this, or catch the manipulators doing it. I have seen estimates for a bottom price for silver as low as $10 per ounce. It is going to take awhile for the world markets to settle back down from the mess they are in. Hint -- keep an eye on what is happening in China and the other Asian markets.

Silver being used by Investors

Hi Everyone-
Here is a really good (recent) take on how Silver continues to be manipulated.
http://www.kitco.com/ind/Lewis/2013-08-15-The-Unbearable-Lightness-of-Being-Long-Silver.html
Since most of this activity centers around 'paper' silver (the equivalent of air) and is connected to people investing in silver for profit, it really doesn't matter to me as a craftsman because I only buy metal. Like he says in this article, 'silver seems cheap'. It is! And it will probably stay that way for awhile longer, so get your stash stocked up while it is affordable.

Get some Silver, the price has dropped.

Thanks to you new folks who just subscribed to my blog and thanks for hanging around to all of you who are still subscribers. I haven't posted anything in quite awhile, I have been away from my bench, pursuing other creative things like music and sewing.

Today I wanted to bring it to your attention in case you haven't noticed -- SILVER spot price is all the way down to $22.75. You can see that in the chart on the right side of your screen. This price is very affordable to us craftspeople, so it is time to buy.

An interesting thing occurred during the past few years -- due to the SILVER price getting so high, many people turned to Copper and other less expensive metals for their production. Since I am a Silversmith, enjoy soldering, know how to bezel set stones, etc, I am not that crazy about a lot of the work I have seen on Etsy, Pinterest and other websites. However, I have seen some really interesting pieces and I hope the artists who developed these techniques will start using SILVER again. I am referring to the Bohemian style jewelry that is proliferating right now -- twisted wire, lots of beads, simple construction, NO soldering, etc. Since the price of SILVER is low and these techniques are fast and furious, I don't see why the quality of work can not come up by switching back to SILVER and still be affordable.

I plan on starting a new production run soon. When the SILVER spot price was $45+ an ounce, I just couldn't justify using up my stock for the ROI I would get for my finished work. The spoiled public will only pay so much for silver jewelry and there is no way I can get my prices down to match what is available as imports, regardless of quality. Now that the price has dropped I can eek out a profit again, while maintaining my quality and design standards. 

So thank you to the World Banker guys (who are constantly ratcheting everything up and down) for focusing  on other commodities like Oil, Bonds, etc and allowing the SILVER price to go down. I appreciate being able to get back to work. So get some SILVER and get busy! =)

Please comment!

Estaban

PS I have a couple of Jewelry related Boards on Pinterest -- check them out if you have time:
http://pinterest.com/stram99/jewelry/
http://pinterest.com/stram99/my-jewelry/

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! Best to all of you this next year in 2011.

My prediction for silver to reach $30 by the end of the year was weak.... today it closed at $30.91. I'll be keeping an eye on it in the first few weeks, how it acts early should indicate how it will extend into the new year. The spot price will probably continue to rise, maybe $2 or more within 30-45 days. If you deal in Silver primarily like I do, you are no longer doing crafts, you are entering the area of Fine Jewelry. Be happy about this because the competition is thinning out. Emphasize quality and you will be realize sales.

Let's all dig in and make jewelry like we never have before. I'm promoting my more substantial (weighty) jewelry as a way to 'wear your wealth'. Another strategy to make silver affordable might be to include smaller amounts of silver in a piece while combining it with other metals like copper, brass, etc. This seems to be popular and effective with artists on Etsy.

Good luck!

Need I say more?

Hi Everyone!

I have been sitting back watching my Handmade Silver Jewelry Collection increase in value =). This is not because of my fabulous designs and the constant demand for my pieces, rather it is because the price of metals continues to climb. The market is about an hour before closing and silver is sitting at $24.70 per troy ounce. Whoa!!!!!

I know I warned you that this was going to happen and it did.... so here is more good news. Silver has NOT YET finished it's rise in price. And again, I am no expert at the investing game but from what I understand there is going to be even more adjustment forthcoming. One of the factors that is really starting to kick in is the number of people who are simply investing in metals as a commodity. So us craftsman that use it for our livelihood just have to grin and bear it, so to speak, as one of the crowd. This is increasing every day because of the second and more basic reason.... the weakening of the US dollar against other world currencies. We are far from seeing the end of this.

It would take another post to discuss some of the things going on behind the scenes (you won't hear about on CNN or Fox) that will affect the Dollar when they kick in and I would also probably sound like some kind of conspiracy theorist, which I am not, so I will (again) just say.... the price of silver is going to go up more... and more... and more!

If you are an Artist that uses silver in your production you should buy as much as you can as soon as you can. You will automatically be making money as the price rises, even if you don't use it. I for one would like to buy a truck load but those days are gone. It was not that long ago (10 years) that I did my work based on $5 an ounce silver -- HooHoo! .... or is it BooHoo!

Anyway, I wanted to say Hi and let you all know I am still here. So round up your cash and Buy Silver while it is cheap.