Day to Day Care Of Silver Jewellery

Whilst silver is a metal, it still needs a little time and thought to keep it looking at as good as when you first received it. When looked after correctly, silver has a luxurious lustre but without the correct maintenance, it tarnishes as the silver reacts with the sulphur and other pollution in the air and discolors the surface. The greater the pollution in the air, the greater the tarnish so you must take a little extra caution if you live in a city.

There's no need to spoil your enjoyment of your jewellery, however, because with a few easy steps, all your jewellery can be as good as new and just as superb as when you first bought it.

First and foremost, prevention is better than a cure. When storing your silver jewelry, try and keep it out of the air as much as possible and make sure its dry possibly in a press sealable plastic bag as high humidity can speed up the tarnishing process.

To keep that fine, rich shine use a soft cotton cloth or a jewelry cloth to refine and buff your jewelry. Just a few seconds can achieve a lot but if theres a lot of tarnish or your piece has hard to reach places (such as a chain or necklace where its hard to get in between the links) it may be required to use a dip. Each brand differs slightly so always remember to read the directions but, in general, you submerse your piece of silver for 10 seconds and immediately on taking it out, rinse with cold, running water and dry and buff with a jewellers or cotton cloth. Dont leave your piece of jewelry in the dip for too long it can lave a residue and, also, dont use with gemstones as this can hurt them.

Lastly, while silver is quite hardy there are certain chemicals that can damage it such as immersing it in chlorine (such as swimming pool water), salt water and sun tan lotion. Also be careful of household cleaners; all of these can damage the shine of your silver jewelry.

So, with a little time you can prolong the life of your jewelry and your necklaces, bracelets, earrings will look stunning for many years to come.