How do I keep my silver jewelry looking bright and shinny?
If you wear silver jewelry regularly, there’s not much of a chance of it looking scruffy and tarnished. But if you don’t wear your favorite silver style that often, STOP WORRYING.
Here are some suggestions to get it looking as good as new.
• Once you do begin to see some darkening, you can use readily available, store-bought silver cleaning compound.
• On the other hand, I often use a mixture of standard liquid dish detergent, luke-warm water and a little ammonia. I dip the jewelry in the concoction and use cuetips to clean the hard to reach corners. I dip the cleaned jewelry in plain water (to neutralize the ammonia and to take off any dirt the cuetip missed) and use a soft cloth to dry it off. It works like magic.
• Never use toothpaste to clean silver. It is far too abrasive and can permanently damage your jewelry.
• Be sure to remove silver jewelry if you are working with household cleaners that include bleach or ammonia. For that matter, common sense will tell you not to wear ANY jewelry when working with ‘difficult’ equipment.
• If you are going swimming in chlorinated water be sure to remember to remove your jewelry.
• Invest in tarnish-proof bags or pouches for individual pieces of silver jewelry when you store them. An airtight, clean plastic bag would be great. They not only help prevent tarnish but protect your jewelry from nicks and scratches. When you store your jewelry be sure it is dry, (moisture foster tarnish), and clean.
Remember, treat silver jewelry as you would any fine piece of jewelry, or watch, with care, sensitivity, common sense and respect.
Not that long ago, I escorted a bunch of American jewelers to the awsome 80,000 square ft. Hong Kong Convention and Exibition Center. It was September and the jewelry ‘fair’ was in town.
the Centre, in an effort for them to develop a few long-term vendor/supplier relationships.
Silver jewelry has had a long and noble history, second only to gold. It’s been popular for thousands of years, traced all the way back to the ancient Egyptian, Phoenician, and Byzantine empires.
While Hong Kong is a wonderful and vital city, it also is the unofficial jewelry center of Asia.
An established alliance could lead to acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, or any other deal that you, your lawyer, or accountant can devise. There’s nothing like having a formal – or informal — price, delivery, style ‘alliance’ with your favorite factory(s) around the world. They could end up being a partner.
Back to the store. I took the elevator to the second floor – “Silver and Porcelain”: the directory said. The doors opened to an organized confusion. This is where the action was, at least for now.
Before the ‘great’ recession of 2007-2010, jewelry executives relied on boom-time conditions (low interest rates, consumer confidence, high employment and the like) to lead customers to their store.
Karat Gold Jewelr
Take Tiffany & Co., for example. Over the years, Tiffany has become a retail channel by itself. Their skilled management team pioneered silver styling, (i.e. remember the 3-pronged Tiffany setting), merchandising, branding, (i.e. Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso) and pricing. Silver jewelry has become a strong – if not major — part of their product mix. How big a part is, of course, a carefully guarded trade secret? They’ve been doing their silver jewelry homework for decades.