Tips on How to care and buy the Best Sterling Silver Jewelry

Since time immemorial, silver has been known to be a very valuable stone. It has been used to make precious ornaments such as necklaces, bracelets as well as rings. Since the early ages, silver ring has been used as ornaments by women so as to beautify themselves and as a sign of prestige. This kind of silver jewelry is referred to as sterling since silver is generally soft and cannot be used alone. This calls for reinforcement which calls for the silver to be mixed with other metals; one popular metal that is used is alloy.

According to the required standard, the minimum content to be in a silver necklace should be 925 parts for every 100 parts of the necklaces content (92.5%). This is why you will find numerous silver products having the “92.5” numbers on them.

Commonly used metals in making sterling silver

In the making of the sterling silver, there are metals that are commonly used to fill up for the 7.5%. In most cases, Copper alloy is the commonly used material, it makes the silver stringer and harder. But on the downside, the copper makes the silver to have a tarnishing tendency which also makes it to darken. The darkening is basically brought about by the coppers reaction with the gases in the air or other gases that might be in the air.

Another alloy that is used and found to be better than the copper alloy is the platinum alloy. This is said to be harder and resistant to tarnishing compared to the copper kind of alloy. This is more expensive and was discovered in 2003. The precious silver jewelry and more expensive ones have their 7.5% of alloy made of the platinum alloy.

Caring and cleaning the sterling silver Jewelry

Caring for your silver ornaments contributes largely to its durability and sustenance of beauty. When you are storing your silver necklace or bracelet, make sure that you store it in cloths or bags that will prevent tarnish. These kinds of storage reduce the rate at which the tarnish happens and also keeps it from other jewelry that might scratch it.

Cleaning of the jewelry should also be taken keenly. To have a clean silver jewelry, make sure you clean it using the recommended polishing cloths. Many people believe that use of toothpaste would clean better but this is not the case. You should be aware that toothpaste is corrosive and might leave your jewelry with scratches.

With this kind of information, I believe you will be in a position to make an informed decision in cleaning your sterling silver jewelry as well as caring for it.