When is Silver not Silver? When it's Vermeil!

When you're buying jewelry, you're faced with several different standards of Silver. Knowing which is which will help you make educated buying decisions.

Silver Plate, which is a micro-coating of Silver over a base metal, is relatively inexpensive, but may turn your neck, ears or fingers black through a chemical reaction with your skin. It wears off easily, so is not long-lasting on a piece of jewelry.

Fine Silver is 99.9% pure silver, and tarnishes about eight times slower than Sterling Silver because it has no copper in it. Fine Silver, however, is very soft, and must be "work hardened" to be used in jewelry.

Sterling Silver is 92.5% pure silver hardened with a 7.5% of a base metal, most usually copper. Because of the copper, Sterling Silver tarnishes rapidly. Sterling Silver often is coated with an invisible protective layer to eliminate tarnish. This means you cannot polish it or dip it in silver cleaner, as this would remove the protective layer.

Argentium Silver is Fine Silver which has been alloyed with Germanium, which greatly decreases tarnishing. Argentium Silver jewelry rarely needs polishing.

But what Silver isn't Silver? Vermeil is Sterling Silver that is coated (plated) with at least 10K or more gold that is at least 2.5 microns thick (100/1,000,000 of an inch. Vermeil stays its beautiful gold color longer, but again because of the copper in the Sterling, eventually will tarnish. Vermeil gives you the appearance of gold, though at a much lower cost.

When you're selecting jewelry, be aware of the Silver differences, and choose carefully.

Rouge Cloth, Anyone?

Talking with a friend recently, I was amazed to learn she never polished her gold and silver jewelry! Never! "How do you clean it?" I asked.
"I don't."
She showed me a chest full of lovely gold and silver jewelry, some set with precious or semiprecious stones. Some of the silver was almost black with tarnish, and everything needed polished to remove surface dulling.
It's not hard to take care of your jewelry. Nor is it time consuming. You simply need to start out right.

1. Store silver away from the air, which is what turns it black, in a zipper-top plastic bag.
2. Use a Rouge Cloth, a soft flannel cloth impregnated with a micro-abrasive, to gently polish your Sterling and Gold, Gold Fill or Vermeil pieces. Don't polish silver or gold plated as it will wear this ultra-thin coating off quickly. Buy your Rouge Cloth from me or your favorite jewelry store.
3. Make you own jewelery cleaner with a teaspoon of sudsy ammonia, 4 tablespoons of liquid dish soap such as Dawn, and 2 cups of tepid water. Mix it up, and soak your jewelry in it for about 10 minutes. Using an old, soft toothbrush, gently brush to remove dirt. Rinse well, and dry with a very soft cotton cloth. Discard the cleaner because you'll make fresh the next time.
4. If it isn't already, compartmentalize your jewelry case with small boxes, padded with poly quilt batting, so each piece of jewelry has a bed of its own. Find the boxes at any organizer store -- or even Target -- and the batting at any fabric store.
5. Never soak anything strung on string, cord, leather or silk. Clean these pieces by hand, carefully.
6. Pearls and soft or brittle stones such as opals and emeralds require special care. Clean them with a damp soft cloth only. Alcohol will dissolve pearls. Water and temperature changes can shatter opals and emeralds.
7. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use an over-the-counter ultrasonic cleaner unless the jeweler who sold you the jewelry specifically guaranteed ultrasonic cleaning was safe.

There you have it -- 7 easy ways to care for your jewelry.