Silver jewelry has a lovely patina, but the sad fact is that the patina darkens with age, turning from the original brilliant silver, to a light gold, and if left long enough it will become bronzed and then a black/blue.
This is due to the chemical reaction of the silver, with sulfides present in the environment. This is usually due to airborne pollutants, but can also be transferred to the jewelry on your hands.
One of the first rules of keeping your silver jewelry shining, is to store it properly in acid-free paper, or cloth especially for that purpose. Put them in a drawer or other safe place, that is away from exposure to wood or other types of smoke.
It is best to keep jewelry polished, instead of trying to play "catch up" when it has become heavily tarnished. But there are a number of ways to deal with the darkening color.
There are many home solutions, such as using white toothpaste and a soft brush. However, some jewelers point out that silver is not tooth enamel, and can't withstand the abrasive content. Although on things like chains, it's unlikely you would see any resulting scratches.
Commercial solutions do work, but depending on the nature of your jewelry (e.g. whether it contains gemstones or pearls), you may not be able to submerge it completely, and the cleaning will be uneven.
One basis of both commercial and home cleaning solutions, is the creation of an electrochemical cell, where there is a metal ingredient that is anodic to silver. This means that it will help turn the silver in the sulphide tarnish, back to silver.
A favorite home treatment is to line a pot with aluminum foil, one of the metals anodic to silver, put your jewelry in, and cover it with water, then add several tablespoons of baking soda. Boil gently until you see that the discoloration is gone. Your jewelry may be completely clean, or may have a white powder on its surface from the oxidization. This can be removed easily with a baking soda paste. Remember to exercise caution in cleaning silver jewelry. If it is not purely silver, like a chain or bracelet, the treatment you use can damage soft stone or pearls.
Silver is perhaps the most readily available and affordable precious metals on the planet. What makes silver jewelry truly special is that silver jewelry has a way of blending in with any type of clothing and is ideal for embedding gemstones. Compare silver to gold and the subtle and classy look of silver comes to the forefront. Today, there is so much variety available in silver jewelry that it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with the latest fashions and also with the various terms associated with silver jewelry. If you have no idea what sterling silver is and what the difference between antique silver and antique silver finish is, read on. Sterling silver is an alloy of silver that has close to 93% (92.5% to be precise) silver and usually another metal like copper. The most common form of silver (known as 925 or sterling silver) is actually a combination of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. The number 925 denotes the amount of pure silver in 1000 parts of metal. Sterling silver is the minimum acceptable quality of silver for jewelry; there are purer alloys of silver also available. Fine silver is 99.9% silver and is used exclusively for making bullion bars as pure silver is too soft for making silver jewelry. Apart from 925 sterling silver, Britannia silver and Mexican silver is also used for jewelry and other silverware. Britannia silver is composed of 95.84% silver and 4.16% copper. Today jewelry made from Britannia silver is marked with the symbol for Britannia or has the numbers ?958? engraved indicating the percentage of silver in the alloy used. Apart from sterling silver and Britannia silver, Mexican silver is also used for making jewelry. Mexican silver has 95% silver and 5% copper; the number 950 is used for silverware made from Mexican silver. Coins are made from 900 (90% silver) and utensils and cutlery is usually crafted from German silver (800 or 80% silver). The next time you are buying silver jewelry, make sure you read the hallmark. By law all hallmarked silver in the US has to mention the percentage of the silver used in the jewelry. So if you see the words ?sterling silver? or ?925? engraved on a piece of jewelry you can easily ascertain the percentage of silver in the jewelry. In fact, the same system of indicating the percentage is also used for gold and platinum, and is called the Millesimal fineness system. Interestingly, Mexican silver is called Mexican silver not because the silver is from Mexico, but because some time ago all silver jewelry in Mexico was made from an alloy with 95% silver, the same holds good for Britannia and German silver. If you are looking for pure silver then the only way to buy pure silver is in the form of specially crafted coins or bullion bars. A majority of jewelry made today is crafted from sterling silver and other alloys of silver like Britannia silver are rarely used for making silver jewelry. Resource Box www.fashionislandjewelry.com is one of the leading silver jewelry sites on the internet.
Both Alice Stacy & Tomas Venckunas are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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