All sterling silver will eventually tarnish over time, but it will happen much faster when the jewellery comes into contact with chemicals and products such as perfume, salty air, sulphur, skin creams, hairspray, chlorine or if the wearer has a more acidic skin ph. The amount of tarnishing (oxidation) that occurs is entirely dependent on the skin and the day to day care habits of the wearer. Tarnishing is therefore not a manufacturing fault and doesn't mean that our jewellery is not made from sterling silver. Common causes of tarnishing happening more quickly in some people include:
- Exposure to perfume, chlorine, cosmetics or body lotions & sun screen.
- Humidity and hot weather
- Stress and diet are known to have an effect due to the release of toxins through the pores. For example, eating a lot of eggs can cause an increase in sulphur released through the skin and has been proven to cause silver tarnish.
- Wearing silver jewellery whilst exercising can cause silver to tarnish quicker due to perspiration.
- Sterling silver is composed of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other alloys (which are needed to be able to cast it) and sometimes the wearer can have a reaction to these other alloys which often include copper. If this happens it's likely they will react with all silver jewellery unless it's plated with Rhodium.
We suggest cleaning your jewellery with a fine-grade anti-tarnish silver polishing cloth or using silver dip if tarnishing occurs.
Marks and dents
Silver jewellery (particularly rings) can get bashed and marked if they are worn in such a way that they come into contact with hard objects such as desks, work tools and abrasives. Silver by it's very nature is quite a soft metal, so we can't guarantee your jewellery won't acquire scratches and marks over time - we think it adds to the charm and shows it's being worn and enjoyed, but if you want to keep it polished for longer we advise removing rings when washing up, doing manual work, or operating hand tools.
