About Silver

Silver (Ag) is a precious metal that was first used by human beings. Pure silver is a soft precious metal that is nearly white, lustrous and very flexible. It would also, tend to oxidize rapidly. This is due to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the air, which forms silver sulfide (Ag2S). This chemical reaction alters the natural color of silver to a yellowish brass color, known as tarnish. To help delay or minimize the oxidation of tarnishing, a thin coat of plating is used. Most of the times nickel (Ni), a hard silver color metal, is placed between the coating and the silver because it facilitates the adherence of the plating to the metal.

Sterling silver is usually used when making jewelry. Sterling silver, by definition, is composed of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper alloy. In the jewelry trade, each piece of sterling silver jewelry is stamped or engraved with 925, Sterling or SS for legal identification. This identification marking on the jewelry is done to protect the consumer on all ends of the trade. Although, the stamping can be placed illegally on any type of metal, this is why it’s important to deal with reputable companies, in the jewelry market. There are organizations out there, such as the “Jewelry Board of Trade (JBT)” and the “American Jewelers Association (AJA)” to help you find reputable companies.

The exact composition of any piece of jewelry can be determined by a laboratory specialized to perform such an analysis, also known as an assay, and certify the jewelry in question.

Our Guarantee: Unique assures that our sterling silver merchandise is .925 or better.

Jewelry Care & Cleaning

Sterling Silver Jewelry will tarnish, oxidized and can also retain dirt over time and usage. Some detergents, waxes, cosmetic creams, body sprays, polish, body acids and environmental pollutants can cause chains, bracelets and especially rings to build up a type of dermatitis. To prevent this, they should remove all jewelry when working with chemicals. Clean jewelry, especially rings, frequently. This can be removed gently by using a jewelry polishing cloth when needed.

Because sterling silver is a softer metal than most gold alloys, it is more likely to be abraded to black dust. This is done by movement between the jewelry and the skin or clothing. This black tarnish may be rubbed off on the skin or clothing. A few people, especially with moist acidic skin, may find that the sterling silver stains their skin green, due to the copper component of the silver alloy. When this occurs, they should polish their jewelry frequently and use an absorbent, nonabrasive powder on the moist skin areas that are exposed to jewelry. These problems do not happen to most people, except for high humidity areas of the country and hot nature and or high acidic sweat gland people.

A special formulated silver jewelry cloth, which is chemically treated with nontoxic cleaning and polishing agents, can restore the luster of the silver. Special dipping agents and ultrasonics can be used on some sterling silver which the designs have hard to reach places on jewelry to clean by hand. These items should only be sterling silver with no stones set, no antique plating or any other types of plating. Sterling Silver jewelry, without stones set, should only be dipped in approved jewelry cleaner for a few seconds and then immediately be washed in warm water. The wet but cleaned jewelry piece should be wiped with a soft nonabrasive towel, such as microfiber cloths, and then air dried. It is highly recommended that you regularly take your jewelry with stones to be cleaned and inspected by a local reputable jewelry store. Most reputable jewelry stores will conduct a basic cleaning and inspection of the jewelry piece for free.

To prolong tarnishing, the piece of jewelry can be kept in a pouch, special wrap cloth, or zip lock bag for safe keeping. A new anti-tarnish strip of paper was developed by 3M can be used also for backstock and long- term storage with all types of jewelry. This product keeps the jewelry bright as the day you packaged it.

Most of these products can be purchased with us or other fine jewelry supply companies.