Sterling silver is composed
of 92.5% silver alloyed with copper to strengthen it. Silver has one of the highest
reflectivities of any metal, giving it unmatched brilliance, making it perfect for
jewelry designs. Silver also has extremely high electrical conductivity and thermal
conductivity. Despite all these wonderful properties silver is relatively abundant
and easy to extract from ore, so it is, at the same time, relatively affordable making
it ideal for jewelry that will appeal to a wide audience.
At various time in history silver was even more valued than gold and had a mystical
allure to it, often being associated with the sea, moon and lunar goddesses. Hallmarking
of silver places a stamped mark on the silver to identify its origin and purity and
is often an important part of determining the value of a collectible piece.
There are other alloys of silver with a higher content of silver than sterling. Mexican
and Brittania silver each have about 95% silver. Coin silver on the other hand typically
has only 90% silver.
The cleaning of sterling silver can be a burdensome task, which is why much of the
silver jewelry manufactured today has various types of anti-tarnish finishes ranging
from a flash overlay of pure silver, waxes, proprietary coatings and the currently
very popluar rhodium plating. Rhodium in fact is a much more expensive raw material,
but does not have quite the high brilliance of silver, however its superior anti-tarnish
property outweigh its lower reflectivity value.
Care
and Cleaning of Silver Jewelry
Some silver jewelry
is treated to resist tarnishing. Other silver jewelry is supposed to tarnish (patina)
to give it an antique look. But, if your silver jewelry is not tarnish proof, you
may want to wrap it in tissue paper with anti-tarnish strips.
Cleaning silver jewelry may be done with a polishing cloth and cream that may be
purchased in any jewelry store, jewelry department and in most drug stores. A cleaning
dip may be used on jewelry that does not contain stones, CZ's, glass, leather, etc.
Try to limit your silver jewelry to exposure to salt water (ocean), body fragrances,
soap and household cleaners or chemicals. Do not wear in hot tubs or pools. Some
people have a skin chemistry that can turn silver black. This is particularly difficult
to clean.
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