Understanding and Caring for Silver Jewelry

Dear Renee,

I have many silver peices of jewelry I have accumulated over the last few years and someone told me there are ways to make them look new. Also why does silver tarnish so easily and gold does not?

Marsha Meyers, Springfield, Illinois.

Good question Marsha! Silver jewelry is usually significantly lower in value than most gold items due to the metal factor. The great advantage to creating jewelry from silver is that it is a very versatile metal. Silver jewelry usually requires less care than gold since it is a harder metal. Silver is mixed with other alloys usually copper to make it more durable. Sterling silver the silver used in most fine jewelry is the best quality of silver available due to its high 92.5% silver content.

Silver can be scratched if care is not taken, therefore it is important to store it in a soft pouch and wear it with care. Silver can usually be buffed and polished proffessionaly by any qualified jeweler. Keep your silver away from any chemicals such as hairspray. You can care for your silver jewelry with a delicate jewelry cleanser. Although there are many chemical solutions for cleaning and restoring silver you must always be careful with these solutions since they can damage gemstones or other components of your fine silver jewelry. To limit the tarnishing of silver use silver cleaning solutions with a silver jewelry cleaning cloth on the same piece, cleaning once every 2 months. However, the best way to prevent tarnishing is to wear you silver jewelry as often as possible.