Caring for your sterling silver jewellery

When you buy a lovely, bright and shiny piece of silver jewellery you want to keep it looking it's best for as long as possible... we have some hints and tips to keep it that way!

Sterling silver is an alloy - meaning that it is a mix of metals. To achieve the status 'sterling' this mix has to comprise of at least 92.5% silver and then 7.5% being made up of other metals - giving it it's strength and durability. All sterling silver will be at risk of tarnishing which is mostly caused by oxygen - but there are steps you can take to reduce this.

In all of our boxes that we send your jewellery out in, we put an anti-tarnish tab that will neutralise any of the corrosive gases that cause tarnish. This can be put into your own jewellery box to protect other jewellery or can be kept with a single piece. Another great way to protect your silver is to keep it in airtight 'zip-locked' bags and away from sunlight. Combining the two is even better!

There are products on the market which use chemicals to polish or to dip your jewellery. Silver dip is very harsh and can sometimes do damage to your jewellery and we would not recommend them. However a simple silver cloth which has minimal product in can be very useful and will gently remove tarnishing to give your silver a lovely 'as new' shine. If you have a piece with some very fine surface scratches, a silver cloth can actually help to remove them, or at least minimise them. 

For items that have links and crevices, a great way to clean them is to put some lukewarm water in a bowl, add a very small amount of washing up liquid and with a very soft toothbrush (baby's one is great), gently clean and then rinse thoroughly, dry and then buff with a cloth.

We have found that wearing a piece of jewellery frequently will help to keep it free from tarnish as the constant movement helps to stop tarnish from building up. So don't keep your jewellery for 'best' - wear it and enjoy it!

Hope you've found this useful!