Why Silver Jewelry Costs More Right Now

Why Silver Jewelry Costs More Right Now

I don’t love raising prices. I don’t think any independent artist does.

If you’ve noticed that silver jewelry has become more expensive over the past year, you’re not imagining it. And while tariffs have been part of the conversation everywhere lately, they’re not the main reason prices have moved the way they have.

Over the last two years, silver has gone from hovering in the low twenties per ounce to well over one hundred (as of January 25th 2026). That’s more than a threefold increase in the raw material alone. Gold has followed a similar path, climbing sharply as well.

For context, most tariff related increases fall somewhere between ten and fifty percent depending on origin and category. Silver, in that same time period, has risen by more than three hundred percent. 

If you’re buying jewelry made from solid sterling silver rather than plated brass or hollow forms, the price of the metal itself is the foundation of the piece. When that foundation triples in cost, everything built on top of it has to change.

Why this is happening

When markets become uncertain, money tends to move toward things that feel tangible and stable. Historically, gold and silver have played that role. As confidence in other assets weakens, demand for precious metals increases, and prices follow.

So while tariffs may affect the final cost of imported goods, the broader economic uncertainty behind them has also pushed raw material prices dramatically higher. Us jewelers are feeling pressure from both sides at once.

Even producing locally doesn’t fully shield you as silver is a global commodity. Its price doesn’t care where you make your pieces.

What this means for small jewelry brands

For independent makers, there’s no realistic way to absorb a cost increase of this size indefinitely. When your primary material suddenly costs two or three times more than it did, something has to give.

Some brands respond by quietly reducing weight. Others move to hollow pieces. Some increase plating thickness just enough to look the same in photos. Those choices keep prices stable, but they change the object itself.

I’m not interested in doing that.

Every piece I make is still solid sterling silver. The weight is the weight. The construction is the construction. If a piece feels substantial now, it’s because it actually is.

What this means for buyers

Jewelry made from real precious metals has always lived in a strange space. It’s wearable, personal, emotional, but it’s also material. The silver in a piece you buy today will still exist decades from now. It can be repaired, melted, reshaped, passed on.

That doesn’t mean you should buy jewelry as an investment. But it does mean it isn’t disposable.

The harder truth is that the idea of “affordable fine jewelry” is becoming harder to sustain without compromises. The gap between costume jewelry and solid precious metal continues to widen.

What Hidden Depths is doing about it

I held prices where they were for as long as I could. Eventually, the numbers stopped making sense.

I’ve adjusted pricing to reflect the real cost of materials today, not because I wanted to, but because continuing otherwise would mean changing the work itself. I’d rather be honest about why prices move than quietly lower the standard.

If silver prices come down meaningfully in the future, I’ll revisit this. Until then, transparency felt like the only responsible option.

Thank you for being here, for asking questions, and for valuing objects that are made to last.