How To Care For Your 925 Sterling Silver Jewelry

“My most favorite thing in my wardrobe is the Jewelry!”

Sterling silver jewelry, such as necklaces, earrings, pendants and rings can be beautiful and stunning but at the same time they can be soft and delicate. They need some care to keep them looking shiny and close to original condition.

Pure silver is soft and malleable, so it must be mixed with another alloy to make it suitable for everyday wear. The alloy we use at Steven G Designs is copper. We use 92.5% pure silver and add to it 7.25% copper. This is the reason you will hear us refer to our silver jewelry as 925 Sterling Silver. This will retain the beauty of our silver pieces yet at the same time give them the durability to wear on any occasion. However, even with this extra durability 925 Sterling Silver must be taken care of if you want to wear your precision pieces over the long term.

A side affect of mixing the pure silver with the copper alloy is that the sterling silver will tarnish over time. When a piece of sterling silver jewelry is exposed to sulfur in the air it will react to cause the silver to turn a darker color. This is called tarnishing.

However, at Steven G Designs we bond all our finished sterling silver jewelry pieces with an expensive and durable platinum metal called rhodium. We do this for 2 reasons.

1. This gives each silver piece a very expensive white reflective look that is nearly identical to white gold jewelry. In this way, you can purchase one of our gorgeous pieces for a fraction of the price of gold jewelry and no one will know the difference.

2. The platinum layer gives a layer of protection to the sterling silver jewelry and helps it avoid contact with the sulfur in the air and therefore assists in the prevention of tarnishing.

You must remember that the platinum bonding is just on the surface of the silver jewelry pieces, so it can wear off.

Here are some suggestions for keeping your 925 Sterling Jewelry that you purchase from Steven G Designs at its finest.

• Don’t wear your silver jewelry when doing household chores. Household cleaners contain corrosive substances that can easily eat through the platinum bonding and leave the silver exposed to the sulfur in the air.
  
  
• Don’t wear your silver jewelry when doing strenuous physical activity. Perspiration can act just like a corrosive substance and remove the platinum bonding from your jewelry. Also, don’t swim with your silver jewelry on because the chlorine will cause rapid tarnishing of the metal.
  
  
• When you are getting dressed in the morning or to go out a night put your silver jewelry on last. Lotions, makeups, hair spray and perfumes will remove the platinum bonding and cause your jewelry to tarnish quickly.
  
  
• Only clean the 925 Sterling Silver jewelry you purchase from Steven G Designs with mild soap and water. Then dry gently with a soft cotton cloth. That’s it. Don’t use any other detergents or chemicals. Never use a jeweler’s ultrasonic jewelry clean machine with ammonia that is used to clean gold 
  
  
• Store you silver jewelry individually in a cloth lined box. Don’t let any of the pieces rub against each other. This can cause minor scratching and expose the underlying silver to the air’s sulfur. Storing each piece in a separate zip-log bag is ideal.

With appropriate care and love you can have your sterling jewelry last for an indefinite amount of time. Now that you are knowledgeable enough in taking care of your jewelry you can browse through our Steven G Designs Website and buy with confidence. Look for new designs and add your collection now.

WWW.STEVENGDESIGNS.COM

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