Care & Repair
You have chosen some beautiful jewellery so here’s a few tips on keeping it looking special and a quick overview of the materials that it is made from.
What is Sterling Silver?
Sterling silver is the highest quality silver used for jewellery and is an alloy of pure silver, mixed with other metals to increase its durability.
Pure silver is 99.9%, but is too soft to use on its own for jewellery, as it can be dented, bend or become scratched. Sterling Silver comprises of 92.5% pure silver, with the remaining 7.5% comprising of other metals, such as copper, to ensure that it is robust and suitable for normal use. The name, “925 silver”, reflects the silver content.
This is a legal standard of purity set by Assay Offices in the UK and is used for most silver jewellery throughout the world.
What is an Alloy?
An alloy is a metal made by combing two or more metals to add strength.
What is Rhodium Plated Silver?
Rhodium is a precious metal, which is hypoallergenic, and is sometimes used to plate sterling silver jewellery to protect it from tarnishing – useful when you may have detailed pieces that are not so easy to keep clean.
What is Silver Plating?
Silver plate is process of bonding a layer of silver to a base metal, such as brass or copper. It is difficult to know if something is plated just from looking at it. However, to keep it in sparkling condition, it is advisable to keep it away from any corrosive materials, such as perfume, hairspray etc., and that it is stored away properly to ensure that it retains its good looks.
Hallmarking
A hallmark guarantees that your jewellery conforms to the legal standards of purity and is independently tested at the Assay Offices in the UK.
Sterling silver, in the UK, must contain 92.5% pure silver and every piece of sterling silver jewellery which weighs 7.78% grams should be hallmarked. CL Silver Jewellery has its own hallmark at the London Assay Office and all our jewellery pieces 7.78 grams and over are hallmarked. (Jewellery below 7.78 grams is exempt from hallmarking.)
This process gives you the assurance of the quality of the jewellery you have purchased.
Caring for your Silver Jewellery
Sterling silver is likely to tarnish with time, so keeping it away from perfume, skin creams, deodorants, salty air, chlorine, chemicals and other acidic items will help the jewellery retain its good looks.
We recommend you do not wear your silver jewellery whilst showering, bathing or doing physical activities.
You should polish your sterling silver jewellery with a soft, dry cloth to avoid tarnish, preferably one that is a specially impregnated silver cloth. (These are available from our website).
We do not recommend that you use a silver polish or dip, ammonia or bleach.
Store your beautiful jewellery away from sunlight and heat, ideally in a lined box or tarnish-resistant pouch. Keep it out of the bathroom, if possible, and wrap your jewellery in tarnish resistant tissue paper, away from all chemicals.