Silver is still beautiful and for many, more affordable than gold. Wearing a fine piece of silver jewellery can give the wearer a feeling of confidence and beauty and create the finishing touch to any outfit. Silver was discovered and utilized by people in Asia Minor about 4,000 years ago. Silver as an ore has several distinctive variations. Physically, it may be found as thin sheets or in chunks; either mixed in the stone or simply pure lumps of silver. It may be white or pale yellow. Sometimes it is found fused in with other ores, such as lead and zinc. Its renowned attributes are its suitability as a conductor of electricity, its resistance to wearing acids, its malleability under the hammer and, of course, its luster. Because of these practical features, there are many popular uses for silver. Silverware, in term of vessels or ornaments, may be made of pure silver or compounds.

In the past, purity was tested by scraping or shipping off part of the silver and evidence of this exists on many of the silver bullet coins still in existence. At the present, however, the application of chemicals is the preferred method for ascertaining purity. An acid or sodium nitrate dropped on 100% pure silver has no noticeable effect, but if the silver not pure that is 92%, or more, percent silver, the color change to a dull green which becomes more pronounced when there are more purities. Pure silver touch by smoke becomes matt black, while that which contains impurities becomes black only after some time. As often as not, it will change to a yellow or red first, according to the other metals with which it is mixed. Silver kept in a cupboard or in a plastic bag will not tarnish easily and can be cleaned by several methods: boiling in water with lemon juice, rubbing with a clay rich in alumina or through the use of certain chemical solution s, metal polishes or acids. Acids, nevertheless, tend to make the silver a rather mucky white.

In Thailand, evidence exists of the various uses to which silver was put in the past, including in vessels, as a medium of economic exchange, as jewelry and in items which were integral to religious worship. In the past, there were no rules or standards clearly defining the manufacture, at the present, Thai silverware and the quality of the silver to be used. Fortunately, at the present, Thai silverware, as popular abroad as it is at home, has had standards set for its manufacture, and has even been given a definitive description.