Silver jewellery care

Our exquisite collection of jewellery is made from Sterling Silver 925. Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The copper gives the alloy strength while maintaining it's malleable properties with the high precious metal content. It is the malleable property of silver, or it's ductility, that makes it an easy metal to work with. This means it can be easily formed and shaped into the beautiful designs that you can see in our collection.

The "Hallmark" or stamp of sterling silver varies from nation to nation. For example, British sterling silver incorporates quite a detailed system involving a lion passant to signify the purity of the silver, a letter to indicate the date of manufacture, and finally a symbol was stamped to denote the city of origin. For example, a certain style of crown was used to indicate that the piece was manufactured in Sheffield.

Some other countries did not adopt a national hallmark as such for their sterling silver and simply preferred the word "STERLING" or "925" which you can see in the above image. It is these hallmarks that you must look out for when purchasing sterling silver because the 925 will tell you that you are buying the real thing. At Imagems we are proud to say that all of our jewellery is made from sterling silver and is stamped with 925 to denote this. Even the fixings on the jewellery and the chains are all 925.

Our wonderful collection of Sterling Silver jewellery incorporates different types of sea shell. The Segments of shell are cut according to the design of the piece and then inlaid into the sterling silver. Principally, our collection incorporates mother-of-pearl, abalone shell, and tiger shell. You can see in the images below examples of the actual shell type that are used in making our beautiful jewellery. Due to the natural varying patterns and markings of the shell each piece will boast it's own individual look. This is especially true for the abalone and tiger shell pieces where the unique markings are clearly evident. This means that your purchase will truly be special and individual to you!

Shells

Storing & Cleaning your Silver Jewellery

Once you have purchased your gorgeous item of Sterling Silver jewellery from Imagems you will no doubt want to maintain it to its original appearance as much as possible. I am sure that many of you have other pieces of silver jewellery that have lost their original look and discoloured over time. This discolouration, or tarnish is caused by storing your sterling silver in the open air and humidity for extended periods of time. This tarnishing is a natural process that is a chemical reaction in the air called oxidization. It first appears as a golden hue on the sterling silver and progressively turns to black. To reduce tarnish and keep your Sterling Silver jewellery looking like new for longer periods it is recommended that you store them away when not wearing them.

The good news is that there is an easy way to store your Sterling Silver jewellery away. It is advised that you keep your pieces wrapped up in tarnish prevention cloths or an air-tight protective bag. A plastic zip-lock bag is ideal for this made of Mylar or polyethylene. It is important to note that some plastic contains sulphur compounds which can cause the silver to tarnish faster. Never use polyvinyl plastic bags. We at Imagems store our jewellery in zip-lock plastic bags and find this the best and most practical method for us.

Prior to storing it, it is recommended that you clean and/or wipe the silver with a soft cloth. Here, it is important that you use a soft 100% cotton cloth or a special sterling silver cleaning cloth. Silver is a comparatively soft metal that is subject to being scratched so you must be careful that you use the correct type of cloth and do not rub too briskly either. Paper, polyester, and coarse fabrics often contain wood fibres or synthetics, that can leave tiny scratches on the surface of the silver. So, just to re-iterate this point be sure to clean your sterling silver with a soft 100% cotton cloth or a special sterling silver cleaning cloth.

The best way to keep the tarnish on your sterling silver down to a minimum is to actually wear it! If you wear your sterling silver regularly, your natural body oils help to keep the tarnishing down and cleaning to a minimum.