Silver!

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All the silver I use in my shop is solid, quality Sterling Silver, brought in the UK.  As some of you may already know, sterling silver is made up from 925 parts silver and 75 parts other metals (usually copper). The reason for this is because pure silver 999 is quite soft and would not hold it's shape very well so to make it more durable it is alloyed which creates sterling  silver and because of the alloy, sterling silver can tarnish if not stored / worn correctly. If silver is left in a draw for  a long period of time and not worn, it can turn black.  Also exposure to some household chemicals eg. bleach, perfume etc. can also make your silver tarnished.

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In my opinion best way to keep your silver looking new and shiny is simply to wear it! I'm really lazy with my jewellery and  tend to wear mine all the time and never take it off, I wear mine in the shower too to keep it clean but I only use natural products and no harsh chemicals near my jewellery. If your jewellery does start looking tarnished or dull the best thing I can recommend is a silver polishing cloth. These are soft cloths with jewellery polish impregnated in them and all you need to do is simply buff your silver to bring the original shine back (taking care to avoid any gemstones). I really like the Town Talk silver polishing cloths but you can also buy the cloths from some supermarkets, just make sure it says suitable for silver! As you use the cloths they will turn black, that is just the jewellery polish! Make sure not to wash your cloth as that will remove all the polish, just simply store the cloth in the packaging it comes in and it can be re used again and again. Another good tip is to store each piece of jewellery separately, in a little zip lock bag / pouch. This keeps the air from tarnishing your silver and if you keep each piece separate it will stop them scratching against each other and should hopefully stop chains from becoming tangled!

                                                         

                                                                                   Gemstones!
 

All the gemstones I use in my jewellery are genuine stones that I buy from UK gem suppliers.  All gemstones have a different hardness, for example Diamond, Sapphire and Ruby are really hard and durable whilst others such as Turquoise, Amber and Opal are quite soft and care should be taken whilst wearing the softer stones as they can be damaged if put under stress. 

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                                                                                       Opals! 
 

Opals are one of my favourite gemstones but they can be problematic, I found this out the hard way when a beautiful pair of white Opal studs I had turned orange after I'd worn them in the shower! Opals in particular need special care, they should never be immersed in water as this can alter the colours of the stone and potentially cause cracking! 

 

If you look after your precious metal jewellery it should last you a lifetime! If you have any more questions or would like your jewellery professionally polished then please contact me,

                                                                              Jules :) x