Sterling silver is commonly used to make silver pendants and other jewelry – both fashion and fine.  In fact, this metal is so versatile that it is even used to make men’s jewelry such as tie pins, cuff links, and bracelets.  Overall, the range of jewelry designs that use silver as the settings is quite astounding.  Silver has long been considered the metal to use to express your personal sense of identity and style, and is very often an easy and inexpensive way to add pizzazz to your attire.  Over the past several decades, the demand for and the popularity of silver jewelry has been on a steady rise.  It’s relatively low cost compared to other precious metals such as gold and platinum, and the warm and sober luster of this metal are the prime reasons why it is considered to be the most popular metal in fashion jewelry.  While gold continues to rank as the number one metal in fine jewelry, many find the yellow color of gold to be a bit ostentatious, and therefore prefer silver settings.  Silver jewelry today has come a long way since the first attempts at jewelry when the metal was extracted from the ore, melted into nuggets, and then strung together to form necklaces and bracelets.  Today, there are several variations of the metal that can be used to make jewelry.  Most people love the clean polished surface of silver, and this is the most popular finish for jewelry.  The more exotic oxidized look with areas of preferential blackening is created by treating the surface with chemicals.  If you are not comfortable with the high gloss finish, matte finish jewelry is also available on the market today.

Silver is a reactive metal in that it tends to reach with substances present in the atmosphere.  When this happens, the surface of the metal becomes dull and acquires a yellowish color.  With time, the color changes to shades of gray and then becomes almost black.  Atmospheric moisture, hydrogen sulfide and other chemicals tend to tarnish silver.  The best way to clean silver jewelry is to use a soft jewelry horse hair brush dipped in a mild soap.  Once cleaned, you can use a high quality polishing spray and a soft cloth to bring back the luster of the exposed metal.  If your silver jewelry includes gemstones or pearls or other delicate materials, make sure that the spray you choose is compatible with these materials too.  Never use paper towels or toilet paper to wipe jewelry.  Although these products may seem soft to the human touch, they typically contain wood fibers that can scratch and dull the surface of silver.

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Dale is a geo-professional in the Southwestern United States, and an avid and amateur gemmologist and a jewelry buff.