Silver can be a beautiful cat if it is a "true" silver. The silver, unlike the blue and longhaired gene is a dominant gene and thus silver will be produced in a litter if one or both parents are silver. If one parent is silver and the other is not, many of the kittens will have a very dull tarnished look to them, their contrast will be poor and coat color in general will also be poor.

Many tarnished kittens will start out with a great deal of contrast initially only to "fully" tarnish as adults. Silver is a very touchy color in the Bengal breed as it can diminish the actual beauty and contrast that the Bengal standard demands. It is this breeders opinion that a new or a breeder with little knowledge on the workings of the silver color not become involved with this variable. Silver, like the blue, black, torbie and long haired Bengals is a non recognized color in the Bengal breed and in TICA, The international Cat Association

Looking at this photo of the silver Bengal queen with her litter of tarnished kittens, we can see that they do have a fair to good amount of contrast at this age, only to lose much of it as they mature.

Here we see a beautifully marked "silver" tarnished kitten at 8 weeks, beautiful contrast, wonderful clarity and striking pattern.. the next photo is of that same kitten as a fully matured adult.