Jewellery Information & Care
“What is sterling silver?”
Pure silver is a ‘soft’ metal, meaning it is too fragile to craft wearable items such as jewellery. Sterling silver, also known as 925 silver, consists of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals (mainly copper) making it far more durable than pure silver, mean it is the widely used standard for silver jewellery.
“Can I wear my jewellery all the time?”
You should remove your sterling silver jewellery when:
- Washing hands
- Showering
- Swimming
- Exercising
- Doing strenuous or heavy work with your hands
Avoid contact with cleaning products, perfumes, lotions, hand sanitiser and chlorine as these can tarnish silver, strip platings and coatings, and dull gemstones.
For natural opal jewellery please note the following. Natural hydrophane opals can absorb water and other substances, which can cause the gemstone to discolour or become transparent. It's therefore super important to keep your natural opal out of contact with water and other liquids. A little care and respect for these beautiful stones goes a long way!
Taking the time to care for your sterling silver and gemstone pieces will allow them to stay as beautiful as the day they arrived, for as long as possible.
If you are looking to purchase jewellery that you can wear at all times and never take off (for example, an engagement or wedding ring), we would recommend choosing solid gold over sterling silver. However, this is of course a much more expensive option.
“How should I store my jewellery?”
Do store your jewellery:
- In a lined jewellery box or a soft pouch
- In an air-tight container or pouch if you are not regularly wearing a piece of sterling silver jewellery (this will help to prevent tarnishing)
Don’t store your jewellery:
- In the bathroom (your jewellery will be exposed to too much humidity which could result in tarnishing)
- In bright sunlight (this can dull gemstones)
“Will my jewellery tarnish?”
You may find that sterling silver jewellery can oxidise and ‘tarnish’ over time, which is due to contact with the air. Fortunately this is easily solved. The dark tarnish that sits on the surface of the metal can be removed using a silver polishing cloth to reveal super shiny silver underneath.
You can also polish your sterling silver jewellery even when there are no signs of tarnish to keep your pieces looking as sparkly as possible.
We stock our favourite sterling silver polishing cloth made by Town Talk. Click here to purchase.
Please do not use silver cleaning/polishing solutions to clean your jewellery as this can remove the dark oxidisation/antiquing effect that is present on many of our designs.
“Will your rings turn my fingers green?”
It's highly unlikely that sterling silver ring will leave a green mark on on your fingers. However, contrary to popular belief and although in our experience this is very rare, it is possible for sterling silver to leave a green mark on the skin (this can also happen with gold jewellery). As explained above, sterling silver contains copper, which turns green when it oxidises. It is therefore possible for the copper to react with sweat or other substances on the skin such as lotions or perfumes, leaving a green residue behind. Some people are more prone to these green marks than others.
Sensitive Skin
Sterling silver is widely regarded as a hypoallergenic metal, meaning it is unlikely to cause adverse skin reactions. However, please be advised that trace amounts of nickel can be present in sterling silver (and gold) which may be unsuitable for people who are hypersensitive.