General FAQs about the Sterling Silver

Generally, most high quality of silver jewellery is made from sterling silver. Many of you might have heard of sterling silver and know a little about it, but you probably might not be sure what it is or how to fully take care of it. These days, almost every other silver jewellery available in the market is likely made of sterling silver, so let’s talk about some common questions people usually have about the sterling silver jewellery.

1. How Pure is "Sterling" Silver?

Usually, sterling silver is a alloy made of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, generally copper. Since pure silver is too weak and soft to make beautiful jewellery, the other metals is added to it simply to improve the quality and the strength. Generally, all sterling silver jewellery available today has this exact composition.

2. How to tell whether the silver jewellery is sterling or not?

In the market today, sterling silver items are stamped with.925 or some other marking which indicates the purity of the silver present. Smaller items, for instance jewellery, may or may not have such kind of markings. Any sterling silver jewellery weighs less than 3 grams might not be marked.925 or any other value, in particular the smaller jewellery accessories such as earrings, bracelets, tiny rings, chains and pendants. This is done because the piece of jewellery might get damage if marking is done on the small clasp or loop. But if you are concerned about the purity of your jewellery or the silver plating or the percentage of silver in it, then the recommended thing to do is to take the piece of jewellery to an experienced jeweller or any other Wholesale silver jewellery suppliers that you know for examination.

3. How to take care of jewelleries made of sterling silver?

Although the Sterling silver is relatively low maintenance metal you can still store the silver pieces of jewellery away from newspaper, wood, and rubber to avoid tarnish and damage. Apart from that you can also trim down the tarnishing by storing a piece of chalk in the box of jewellery. You can also use the commercial silver cleaning products, use a home product such as baking soda or vinegar, or get it professionally cleaned if you think you jewellery still needs to be cleaned. All that said seal your silver jewellery with nail polish cleaner or have it professionally lacquer it can also help to trim down tarnishing to some extent. All these ways can be used for the jewellery pieces which are exposed frequently to wet air, moist, or worn by people, since body chemistry endorse tarnishing and skin staining.

4. How long will sterling silver last?

Generally sterling silver lasts for centuries. Even with gentle polishing and regular use, most sterling silver jewellery pieces will hold up exceedingly well over the years. Always make sure that you get solid silver jewellery instead of normal silver plated jewellery, because a solid silver will hold up for a good decade.

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