[zorgon]

Hi Mike:
It is silver but recently polished and quite reflective. You are correct, it is a photographic issue. It's very hard to take decent pictures of recently cleaned, polished silver. It's also interesting that to the naked eye, they aren't that different in real life. I'll attach a couple photos of the 2nd one that might be a bit more realistic.
Thanks for asking; a fair question.

Wayne