Having lived in Saudi Arabia for five years, my wife and I developed a great affinity for gold jewelry. In those days, the price of gold was around $300 dollars an ounce and in Saudi Arabia, we could purchase gold jewelry by the gram making it very affordable. The world has changed in recent years and now, silver jewelry is playing a much larger role in jewelry. We’ve discovered that silver jewelry can be just Filigree Celtic "eternity knot" Pendant in Sterling Silveras elegant as gold when cleaned properly. In fact, highly polished silver has an attribute of being much more reflective than gold. However, when it is exposed to the elements, silver will tarnish over time through oxidation. Silver, a soft, white lustrous metal, is commercially available in a number of alloys. The most familiar of the alloys is Sterling Silver which is comprised of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper. Items that bear the label fine silver are 99.9% silver and the new argentium silver is always at least 92% silver. The new silver alloy gaining prominence because it rarely needs polished is argentium silver in which a small part of the copper of sterling silver is replaced with argentium. This small portion of argentium makes the resulting silver virtually tarnish proof. Even with the presence of this new silver alloy, the most prominent alloy found in today’s jewelry is sterling silver. With this reality, it’s important to Bali Style Black Onyx Bracelet in Sterling Silverlearn and apply measures to prevent our sterling silver jewelry from tarnishing. Silver oxidation is caused by exposure to sulfur, oxygen and also the salt residue from the wearer’s hands. Therefore, full enjoyment of your silver jewelry will require that you be careful not to expose the pieces to some chemicals and that you take special measures when storing and cleaning your silver jewelry. Lotions, perfume, oil, hair spray, bleach, ammonia, alcohol, finger nail polish removers with acetone, turpentine and any home product which includes sulphur should be avoided. You should also keep your silver jewelry away from cardboard, newspapers, tape, felt and wool which in most cases contain sulphur. Also, you should not wear your silver jewelry in the shower. If badly tarnished, you can remove the tarnish using a solution of baking soda and salt in steaming hot water. If your jewelry has gems or pearls, Yellow Sapphire Set (simulated)check to see if these chemicals and temperatures are safe to use with them. Also, if your jewelry has an antiqued silver finish like the yellow sapphire set shown here, you should not dip it in this solution but polish it using only the Sunshine polishing cloth mentioned below. If all is clear after checking the gemstones and whether the piece is antiqued silver, add just a bit of salt and baking soda to the very hot water and drop your silver in. The disappearance of the tarnish from the silver will be evident. When finished, rinse your silver piece in water and dry it. You can apply this technique to pieces such as the filigree Celtic heart shown above. This piece is sterling silver and is not antiqued. Once polished, occasionally wipe your silver with a Sunshine Polishing cloth (available at: http://www.sunshinepolishingcloth.com/. These cloths are professionally impregnated with chemical cleansing agents and microabrasives that are very effective at polishing silver. In storing your silver, there are certain things that can slow its tendancy to tarnish. If placed in your jewelry box, the small moisture absorbing inserts in medicine bottles or tarnish preventing squares can assist in stopping tarnish. Also, putting a piece of chaulk with your silver piece will reduce it's tendancy to tarnish. You should always store your silver jewelry in small plastic bags to prevent scratching. I hope this information is helpful to you in caring for your silver jewelry and would like to hear any comments you might have regarding your experiences in cleaning, polishing and storing your silver jewelry.