Sterling silver jewelry has been a popular
commodity for thousands of years. One of the obvious reasons is the
affordability over other precious metals gold and platinum. The
large variety of sterling silver jewelry requires certain knowledge
in order to choose the right piece and also keep it in good
condition as long as possible. The followings are the most common
questions concerning sterling silver jewelry.
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How do I clean sterling silver jewelry?
It depends. Usually, it is sufficient to use a
jewelry cloth (with two layers of cloths in different colors) that
you can get from a jewelry accessory store. Don’t use any hard
object to clean sterling silver jewelry; even paper towel could
scratch the surface. You should rub any dirt off using a jewelry
cloth, not fingernails. Silver-dip is another commonly used sterling
silver jewelry cleaner, which can also be obtained from jewelry
store. The entire silver jewelry is immerged in the solution for
half a minute to a minute and then rinsed with water. Make sure the
silver jewelry is not plated with any other metal before using the
silver-dip or the plating will be damaged.
Where do I store sterling silver jewelry?
It is very important to store sterling silver
jewelry properly when it is not used. The ideal place to store
sterling silver jewelry is cool and away from sunlight. Heat and
light will turn a silver jewelry yellow and cause it to tarnish
quickly. Even indoor light source like florescent lights or light
bulbs turn the color of silver jewelry over time. If you expect not
to wear a certain piece for a long time, put it in a air-tight bag
and store it in a drawer.
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What types of silver jewelry plating are there?
Unlike gold and platinum, however, pure silver is
rather unstable and oxides rather quickly. Therefore, silver jewelry
is usually plated with another metal to protect it from tarnishing.
There are two kinds of plating for silver jewelry: nickel and
rhodium plating. Nickel plating has a more whitish look and rhodium
plating has a darker look. Rhodium is used to plate white gold and
platinum jewelry and is much more expensive than nickel, and it give
better protection to the silver underneath. On the other hand, some
silver jewelry is not plated. For instance, high polished sterling
silver jewelry does not have any plating and the surface is polished
by machine to render shininess. Also, “oxidized silver” jewelry is
oxidized on purpose to give a dark antique look and is not plated
with any other metals.
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How do I know the purity of my silver jewelry?
The purity of sterling silver refers to 92.5% of
silver in the alloy. In order to confirm the purity, the metal
itself has to be sent to a laboratory to be tested. However, most of
the sterling silver jewelry produced nowadays has a “925” stamp to
indicate the authenticity of the jewelry. Although there are cases
where stamps are forged and the metal is either not silver or the
purity is not as stated, they are very rare.
How about engraving and resizing?
Engraving and resizing of sterling silver rings is
rather simple due to the ductility and relatively low melting point.
However, make sure your jeweler understands the process of
refinishing the ring and that they possess the necessary equipment
to do so. Not all jewelers have the equipment to recoat the rhodium
plating after cutting and welding the ring. Also, rings set with
stones are sometimes not resizable because resizing might cause the
stones to pop out. Such settings include channel and invisible
settings.
Can I wear sterling silver jewelry if I am
allergic to nickel?
Yes, just make sure the jewelry is pure sterling
silver, not plated with nickel. Even Rhodium plated sterling silver
jewelry sometimes contains a nickel layer between the silver and the
rhodium to act as an adhesive. Hence, buy only high polished
sterling silver jewelry if you are allergic to nickel.
Greg Peterson got his MBA from MIT business school
and is now working as marketing manager for jewelry businesses
featuring
wholesale sterling silver jewelry and wholesale hip hop jewelry.
http://www.samsoneinc.com
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