It’s not that I reserve silver jewelry strictly for summer wear, but that’s when I tend to reach for it the most. I remember my mother storing away her herringbone chains, Hopi stud earrings, and Zuni turquoise cuffs until Memorial Day, when, after some cursory polishing up, they’d reappear (along with her Bass Sunjuns and personal stash of SPF4 Coppertone).

“Silver looks great with a tan,” she’d always say, and somehow this became a rule for me. Where yellow gold feels more formal and urbane, silver jewelry has a casual, “off duty” elegance to it. It also has a great reflective quality, one that starts to dull a bit around Labor Day (the effects of sweat, sunscreen, and several weekends’ worth of salty air).

As the start of August draws near, I find myself craving a pair of shoulder-dusting, swishy silver earrings. Something that could work with the season’s embroidered caftans, off-shoulder dresses, and black cami tops. In other words, everything you might wear between now and October. Here are 11 completely gorgeous contenders.

 Shoulder Duster Triangle Earrings in sterling silver with diamonds $298; Thomas Sabo

 

Renaissance Earrings in sterling silver with diamonds, $750; David Yurman

Three-Strand Earrings in high-polish sterling silver, $48; Susan Silver Designer

Classic Chain Drop Earrings in sterling silver, $495; John Hardy

Brooklyn Fringe Earrings in sterling silver, $375; Kashmiry

Milkyway Pod Earrings in sterling silver, $170; Sarah Richardson Jewelry

Old Hand of Fatima Earrings in sterling silver, circa 1950s, $435; Marteau (Also at top)

Fringe Dangle Earrings in rhodium-plated sterling silver, $36.90; Berricle

XL Slim Fishbone Earrings in sterling silver, $275; Sarah Swell

Mobile Bunches Earrings in silver, $250; Heather Guidero

Top Bar Tassel Earrings in sterling silver, $295; Frederic Duclos

 

 

 

 

 

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