What makes a silk tie worth buying
Three things distinguish a good silk tie from a poor one: the silk itself, the interlining, and the construction. A woven silk — where the pattern is created in the weave rather than printed onto the surface — will hold its colour longer, retain its texture through many cleanings, and tie to a better knot than a printed silk of equivalent weight.
The interlining determines how the tie knots. Too light an interlining and the tie folds and falls without body. Too heavy and the knot is stiff and angular. The correct interlining — typically a fine wool felt in the appropriate weight for the silk — produces a knot that is round, firm and resilient.
A hand-rolled edge — where the silk is turned and hand-stitched at the edge rather than machine-stitched — is one of the clearest marks of a fine tie. It allows the edge to breathe and move rather than being held rigidly, which is part of why a good silk tie looks better as the day progresses rather than worse.