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What You Need to Know About Sterling Silver
Since ancient times, craftsmen have used silver in creating products and materials especially jewelry and tableware. The exploration of most countries in the Western hemisphere has even made silver more prominent since such exploration revealed productive silver mines that increased the supply of the metal. As such, silver has been explored all over the world.
Sterling Silver Defined: Sterling Silver is a combination of pure silver and metal. Since pure or fine silver is too soft, metals such as nickel and alloy have been incorporated to make pure silver more durable. Thus, this resulted to an alloy referred to Sterling Silver.
Incorporating Copper in Sterling Silver: The most commonly used metal to make up for the remaining 7.5% content of sterling silver is copper. Although other manufacturers also use nickel, most jewelers make use of coppers because it provides more durability when mixed to pure silver. On the other hand, copper does not prevent sterling silver from tarnishes. Sterling silver usually obtains tarnishes as it reacts to air or other gases.
Combination of Sterling Silver and Platinum: Marc “Doc” Robinson has initiated in creating formulas that incorporate sterling silver and platinum. In 2003, Robinson created platinum-enhanced sterling silver for a prominent jeweler in California. His creations are harder than sterling and copper blends and are resistant to tarnishes.
Markings and Descriptions of Sterling Silver: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States has stipulated that jewelry manufactured and sold in the U.S. cannot bear silver markings or be labeled as solid silver, sterling silver, silver, sterling, or Ster. Unless it contains at least 92.5% of pure or fine silver. Most sterling silver jewelries are marked with 925 parts per thousand of pure silver. If you have sterling silver jewelry, check if you see markings such as 92.5 or 925 to make sure it is authentic.
Cost of Sterling Silver: Although sterling silver is beautiful and may seem costly just as gold or platinum is; it is very affordable. Sterling silver and its components can be bought within anyone’s budget. In fact, the cost of a small gold piece can be at least 4 to 5 times higher than the cost of a large sterling silver piece.
Proper Care of Sterling Silver: If you want to keep the glow or shine of your sterling silver piece, you should be able to employ proper care. Make sure you keep or store your sterling silver piece in tarnish prevention cases or cloths. These are treated materials, which slow down the process of tarnishing while keeping your piece safe from rubbing against hard surfaces or materials. More so, you should store your sterling silver piece in a dry and cool place.
Proper Cleaning of Sterling Silver: Just as storage is important for you sterling silver piece, cleaning it properly also helps in maintaining its quality. Using polishing cloths is very effective in cleaning sterling silver. Most people have a common mistake of using toothpaste as a tool for cleaning almost all kinds of jewelry. However, toothpaste can produce scratches on you jewelry. As such, it is better to use appropriate cleaning pastes and polishing cloths.
