silver jewelry
Cleaning new sterling silver jewelry has sometimes The first important step for keeping silver jewelry bright is preventing the tarnish in the first place. While rarely discussed, learning how to prevent tarnish will save hours of cleaning time later on. You should remove all sterling silver jewelry when applying perfumes, hair spray, lotions, and similar items. Try to avoid staining your jewelry with make-up, foods, and drink. If you do stain your jewelry with the above, rinse immediately with water and soap (mild, phosphate free preferably). Avoid strong chemicals, such as those found in hair coloring and dyes; these can tarnish silver instantly. Removing your jewelry when you bath or swim may or may not be necessary; just rinse with soap and water afterwards to clean off any residual chemicals.
The most common cleaning method for sterling silver jewelry is to use a soft polishing cloth on pieces you frequently wear. This helps remove any dirt or oils that may get on your jewelry through contact with skin and the environment. A soft non-abrasive cloth will work, or visit a jewelry store to purchase chemically treated polishing clothes especially designed for jewelry polishing. The frequency of such cleanings will vary with each person, but the hard and fast rule is to wipe the piece anytime you feel the shine is looking dull or before you store the piece away for an extended period.
Silver jewelry that won’t be worn for a while must be sealed in a plastic or cloth bag to minimize exposure to oxygen, humidity, and damage.
For a more thorough cleaning, detergents can be used. One method is to place a few pinches of baking soda or other mild non-phosphate detergents on your jewelry, then wash with mineral free water by either rubbing with fingers or using a soft cloth. Scrubbers or soft tooth brushes may be used for a deeper cleaning only if necessary, since they may scratch the surface and dull the jewelry’s luster.
There are also chemical cleaners available, but repeated use of liquid cleaners can result in discoloration overtime, therefore, such cleaners should only be used sparingly and only when other methods of cleaning fail.
When cleaning with any of the methods listed here, avoid directly cleaning any gemstones or you will dull the polish overtime.
Learn more about Sterling Silver Jewelry by visiting the import and wholesale jewelry knowledge center of Wholesale of Asia at http://wholesaleofasia.com/, where you'll find a diverse and unique selection of Wholesale Jewelry such as Sterling Silver, Precious Stone, Pearl, Jade, and much more, all at a low cost and imported directly from manufacturers worldwide. By working with manufacturers and retailers to produce fresh and trendy new designs, Wholesale of Asia helps businesses get an edge over competition and increase their bottom lines.
silver jewelry
Showing posts with label silver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label silver. Show all posts
Friday, December 12, 2008
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Warning – don’t buy silver jewellery before reading this (silver jewelry)
Silver Jewelry
There are many different names for silver jewellery on the market today. So, what are all these types of silver and what do they mean?
This article will educate you so you understand what the different terminologies are when you are buying silver jewellery or silver articles.
What is silver?
Silver is a metal which has been used for hundreds of years. Silver is mined from many countries but the biggest producers are Mexico, Peru and Australia.
Silver in its pure form, is normally considered too soft for everyday use. Therefore, other metals are added to the pure silver such as cooper.
The different types of “Silver”
Sterling silver is the main type of silver used in jewellery, ornaments & dinnerware today. This is solid silver. Sterling silver is a mixture of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% metal alloy.
Sterling silver is hallmarked as “925”.
Fine silver is 99.9% pure silver and is normally considered too soft to use for most items. It is also solid silver.
Silver plating is common and sometimes dishonest sellers try to pass this off as sterling silver. It’s also call electroplated silver or silver coated as well. Silver plated items are made using a base metal, normally brass or nickel, which is then put through an electroplating process. Electroplating is a process which adheres a very very thin layer of pure silver onto the base metal.
The result is a sterling silver looking item at a much reduced price. It may look like sterling silver but the silver plating tends to wear off quite quickly exposing the less than beautiful base metal.
Alpaca Silver or German Silver is not actually silver at all. It is a greyish looking alloy which resembles silver. It is sometimes referred to as nickel silver, paktong, and new silver. It is also used as a base for silver plated items because of its appearance. If you want real silver, stay away from this. Also, beware of sellers selling this as “fine jewellery” to consumers that don’t know the difference between sterling silver and alpaca silver.
Mexican Silver is silver is used to describe silver made in Mexico. It must have more than 90% pure silver content to be Mexican silver. Most silver jewellery from Mexico today is actually sterling silver.
Britannia Silver has a pure silver content of 95.85% and no more than 4.16% copper. This silver is marked in the U.K. and Ireland as "958 silver." It is an even more pure form of silver than sterling silver. Hence it’s higher valuer.
Antiquing of Sterling Silver Jewellery
Antiquing is very common in the silver industry today and is the practice of applying a finishing process to sterling silver to give the item an appearance of age. As well as giving the item an appearance of age, it also helps to produce a contrast which makes the details of intricate designs stand out better.
Other guides
There are many other guides at our online jewellery store Australia. www.2mydoor.com.au
About the Author
Author bio My name is Adrian Harrison and I am the proprietor of www.2mydoor.com.au 2mydoor in an online jewellery store located in Australia that sells fine gold jewellery. I am constantly expanding the number of jewellery educational articles on my site. Please feel free to visit for more articles: www.2mydoor.com.au/articles.html or www.2mydoor.com.au This article is free to anyone who wants to publish it as long as you do the right thing and link back to our site – www.2mydoor.com.au If you intend on make changes, please contact us. Our email can be found at the above mentioned website.
silver jewelry
There are many different names for silver jewellery on the market today. So, what are all these types of silver and what do they mean?
This article will educate you so you understand what the different terminologies are when you are buying silver jewellery or silver articles.
What is silver?
Silver is a metal which has been used for hundreds of years. Silver is mined from many countries but the biggest producers are Mexico, Peru and Australia.
Silver in its pure form, is normally considered too soft for everyday use. Therefore, other metals are added to the pure silver such as cooper.
The different types of “Silver”
Sterling silver is the main type of silver used in jewellery, ornaments & dinnerware today. This is solid silver. Sterling silver is a mixture of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% metal alloy.
Sterling silver is hallmarked as “925”.
Fine silver is 99.9% pure silver and is normally considered too soft to use for most items. It is also solid silver.
Silver plating is common and sometimes dishonest sellers try to pass this off as sterling silver. It’s also call electroplated silver or silver coated as well. Silver plated items are made using a base metal, normally brass or nickel, which is then put through an electroplating process. Electroplating is a process which adheres a very very thin layer of pure silver onto the base metal.
The result is a sterling silver looking item at a much reduced price. It may look like sterling silver but the silver plating tends to wear off quite quickly exposing the less than beautiful base metal.
Alpaca Silver or German Silver is not actually silver at all. It is a greyish looking alloy which resembles silver. It is sometimes referred to as nickel silver, paktong, and new silver. It is also used as a base for silver plated items because of its appearance. If you want real silver, stay away from this. Also, beware of sellers selling this as “fine jewellery” to consumers that don’t know the difference between sterling silver and alpaca silver.
Mexican Silver is silver is used to describe silver made in Mexico. It must have more than 90% pure silver content to be Mexican silver. Most silver jewellery from Mexico today is actually sterling silver.
Britannia Silver has a pure silver content of 95.85% and no more than 4.16% copper. This silver is marked in the U.K. and Ireland as "958 silver." It is an even more pure form of silver than sterling silver. Hence it’s higher valuer.
Antiquing of Sterling Silver Jewellery
Antiquing is very common in the silver industry today and is the practice of applying a finishing process to sterling silver to give the item an appearance of age. As well as giving the item an appearance of age, it also helps to produce a contrast which makes the details of intricate designs stand out better.
Other guides
There are many other guides at our online jewellery store Australia. www.2mydoor.com.au
About the Author
Author bio My name is Adrian Harrison and I am the proprietor of www.2mydoor.com.au 2mydoor in an online jewellery store located in Australia that sells fine gold jewellery. I am constantly expanding the number of jewellery educational articles on my site. Please feel free to visit for more articles: www.2mydoor.com.au/articles.html or www.2mydoor.com.au This article is free to anyone who wants to publish it as long as you do the right thing and link back to our site – www.2mydoor.com.au If you intend on make changes, please contact us. Our email can be found at the above mentioned website.
silver jewelry
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