What You Need To Know When Buying Silver Jewelry

The current fashion trend toward black clothing has made silver jewelry more popular than ever. Whether your dress of choice be casual jeans, practical office attire or a slinky, little black dress for a night out on the town, sterling silver jewelry is the perfect accessory. It takes many years of experience to tell whether a piece of silver jewelry is of high quality or not. Here we will show you the secrets of choosing and caring for sterling silver jewelry.

The most important piece of information for determining the price of a piece of sterling silver jewelry is the price per gram of the silver. All sterling silver jewelry is marked as such, and sometimes the name of the designer or manufacturer is engraved on the piece. Most silver jewelry has some sort of plating because silver itself turns yellow over time. There are several ways of finishing a piece of silver jewelry and they will affect the cost of the jewelry substantially. The most expensive way of finishing sterling silver jewelry is using Rhodium. Rhodium is a precious metal that is even more expensive than silver. Therefore, silver jewelry with Rhodium plating is usually at least five cent more expensive per gram.

Another categorization for sterling silver jewelry is the way they manufacture the metal part. To save cost, some jewelry is made by stamping and cutting the needed shapes out from a large sheet of silver and than bend it into the desired shapes. On the other hand, a more traditional way of producing sterling silver jewelry is to cast the metal out of a mold, which is more labor intensive and hence more costly due to the polishing and filing required afterwards. The way the jewelry is made affects the durability a great deal.

Because of its high quality, the sterling silver jewelry of Italian designers is in high demand throughout the world. Besides the history and tradition, the reputation of Italian jewelry is supported by its quality standards for silver and gold, which are amongst the highest in the world.

Caring for your silver jewelry

With just a few preventative measures, you can easily keep your sterling silver jewelry from becoming tarnished. The first thing you need to realize is that tarnish is typically caused by things that we do or wear. Perfume, lotions, sweaty skin and hair products can all cause your jewelry to begin to tarnish. If you take your jewelry off without wiping off the residue from these things, you are contributing to the tarnish. When you add the fact that most people leave their sterling silver jewelry sitting out, exposed to the air most of the time, tarnish becomes inevitable.

For this reason, you need to start to change your habits when putting on and removing jewelry. Before you put any jewelry on, you should make sure your lotion and perfume has soaked into your skin and all hair products, especially hairspray, should be applied. When you are removing your silver jewelry, you should take a few seconds to wipe it off with a soft cloth such as an old t-shirt or flannel shirt.

Once you wipe your jewelry clean, you should store it in an airtight container, such as a zip lock baggie, a cloth bag or an airtight jewelry box. The less air and light your silver is exposed to when you aren't wearing it, the less tarnished it will become. Regular care and maintenance of your silver jewelry can keep it from becoming tarnished and allows you to wear each piece for many years.

Thanks to Hannah Jones for this article on Silver Jewelry.