What is Sterling Silver? How do we identify & care for it? Fine silver to begin with is 999/1000 parts pure. Therefore it is too soft to be used in the manufacturing of jewellery. To improve it's hardness it is alloyed with other metals. Sterling silver is a mixture of 92.5% pure Fine silver & other metal alloys. Sterling silver is used to make quality jewellery items because it has the added strength that pure silver does not have, but still retains much of the natural bright shine of silver.
To identify if a piece is sterling silver, check for markings. Each piece should be marked either 'sterling silver' or have '925' or .925 engraved on it. Pieces that aren't marked in this fashion may be just plated with German/Nickel Silver. Plated items are basically considered to be "imitation silver" & if the plating wears off you could be left with something quite ugly.
If possible store your sterling silver jewellery in a cool dry place. Some people even like to keep each piece inside a pouch or something similar. There is no need to panic when it tarnishes though, a good polish solution will clean it and bring out its shine again. Personally I like to use a special silver polishing cloth; the same one I use for my good silver trophies & ornaments. At the start of each season when I check my clothes & store away the out of season ones, I quickly polish all the silver jewellery that goes with the clothes I will be wearing. In extremely hot weather I find that after I have worn, say a silver necklace for a few days it is best to polish it to remove sweat & stop tarnish from building up. There are special solutions available to use with heavily tarnished silver, but I have never had to use these for jewellery items. Remember Sterling Silver is the most reflective of the precious metals, that is why it is used in fine jewellery; so take a few minutes to keep it sparkling & shiny. Only top quality sterling silver is used for the items listed on my thegemlovers.com web site. The items illustrated are available for sale there.
If possible store your sterling silver jewellery in a cool dry place. Some people even like to keep each piece inside a pouch or something similar. There is no need to panic when it tarnishes though, a good polish solution will clean it and bring out its shine again. Personally I like to use a special silver polishing cloth; the same one I use for my good silver trophies & ornaments. At the start of each season when I check my clothes & store away the out of season ones, I quickly polish all the silver jewellery that goes with the clothes I will be wearing. In extremely hot weather I find that after I have worn, say a silver necklace for a few days it is best to polish it to remove sweat & stop tarnish from building up. There are special solutions available to use with heavily tarnished silver, but I have never had to use these for jewellery items. Remember Sterling Silver is the most reflective of the precious metals, that is why it is used in fine jewellery; so take a few minutes to keep it sparkling & shiny. Only top quality sterling silver is used for the items listed on my thegemlovers.com web site. The items illustrated are available for sale there.
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