Caring for your silver jewellery helps it stay as beautiful as the day you bought it. Learn how to keep your silver sparkling, or how to make your jewellery shine again, and what common mistakes to avoid.
Why does my silver tarnish?
Pure silver doesn’t tarnish, but guess what – it’s also rubbish for making jewellery with! It’s super soft and will scratch, bend, and dent far too easily to wear, and it is really difficult to work with for the same reasons.
To get around this, we add in some harder stuff, usually copper, to make an alloy. Not too much (because we want it to be as “pure” as possible, and to keep its lush colour) but enough to give the properties we want and need. Metallurgists long before I graced this earth figured out that an alloy of 97.5% silver, and 2.5% copper gave a lovely balance between the purity & shine that we want, and the workability & wearability that we need.
So that is why sterling silver is stamped with “975” – it’s because it’s 975 parts per thousand of pure silver. Other common alloys exist including 950, and 999 (aka fine silver) but sterling is the most popular in the UK, and is the most likely one you’ll have seen on a hallmarked piece of jewellery. But beware – not all stamped pieces are official hallmarks, and a stamp of “975” on its own is no guarantee of quality. You can read about my commitment to integrity with the metals I use and hallmarking on this page).
One last note before I share those tips on caring for your silver jewellery: Some tarnishing properties are advantageous (and we even speed it up on purpose sometimes to get a desired look!), which reminds me that I MUST write a future post on patinas to show you why!
On to my top tips for making silver shiny again
Do’s:
Do Not’s:
- ✅Store your jewellery away from sunlight and moisture. You may also want to think about anti-tarnish strips if you wear your jewellery infrequently.
- ✅Put jewellery on last – this minimises the amount of substances which can dull or tarnish your jewellery, such as perfumes, aftershaves, and lotions.
- ✅Inspect your jewellery occasionally for loose stones, worn prongs and signs of weaer and tear. Early intervention is easier (and often much cheaper) to undertake! Ask a jeweller if you’re unsure about the condition of your jewellery – don’t wait for it to break!
- ✅Buy your silver from a reputable source and learn a little about hallmarking before buying. A reputable jeweller will happily disclose the source of their metals and be aware of the regulations and laws around jewellery content and quality.
- ✅Enjoy wearing all your fave sparkles because wearing your jewellery is a truly fantastic way to keep tarnish at bay – but take it off at night please!
- ❌Wear jewellery in water (including the bath, shower or pool), and don’t leave it in the bathroom or other humid environments.
- ❌Spray your fave scent on just before you go out! As well as speeding up tarnish, perfumes, oils and other substances can permanently stain and damage delicate stones such as pearls and opals, and reduce the radiance of other gemstones.
- ❌Put jewellery in an ultrasonic cleaner unless you really know what you’re doing. I’m serious. You can loosen stones, scratch up your stuff, or even snap off a prong in those things! Step Away!
- ❌Automatically trust sellers online – especially those based outside the UK and EU. The internet is unregulated (so there’s a LOT of false advertising). Also Nickel is still allowed in jewellery in some countries including the US, even though it’s banned in the UK and EU because so many people react badly to it.
- ❌Worry if your silver starts to tarnish! It’s perfectly normal, and it will clean up beautifully with a little effort. And if it doesn’t, or you’re at all unsure, ask a friendly local jeweller!
Are you guilty of any of these? Let me know in the comments!
