Sterling Silver..

Silver is a soft metal in its pure form, too soft to be used for jewelry and other items, so it's mixed with other metals to make it more durable. A popular silver mixture, called an alloy, is known as sterling silver. The Federal Trade Commission, has set forth that jewelry sold in the US cannot be marked or described as silver, solid silver, sterling silver, sterling, or using the abbreviation Ster. unless it contains at least 92.5 percent pure silver.

Silver content can also be stated as 925 parts per thousand of pure silver, so you might see the figures 925 or 92.5 used to mark silver content. Silver from Mexico is rarely 92.5 and therefore you may have noticed when you've purchased a sterling silver bracelet in Mexico, the bracelet will loose its luster and tarnish quickly.

The care of sterling silver jewelry is somewhat easy. You can keep sterling silver jewelry in a tarnish prevention bag. If you wish to clean your sterling silver jewelry use a phosphate free detergent. If you're ready to pull out a toothbrush and clean your sterling silver with toothpaste, think again. The simple action of brushing silver and using an abrasive (such as toothpaste) will scratch sterling silver.

Over time, sterling silver will present with a patina, which many wearers of silver seek to achieve however, if the patina finish is not what you desire, you can easily clean the patina away with silver cleaner. The patina finish (which will come naturally over time) can enhance the appearance of gemstones set in silver.

Sterling and Platinum..

May seem like a unique combination and it is! In 2003, silver and platinum were mixed and this new alloy will be used to set fine gems into sterling/platinum alloy jewelry. The nice part about this new alloy is that it does NOT tarnish.

Buying Sterling Silver Jewelry..

Buying jewelry set in sterling silver can be affordable. On one hand you have the look of white gold or platinum (without the high precious metal prices) and on the other hand you can find pieces set with high end quality gems at a fraction of the cost. This new trend for 2007 is both exciting for consumer's and the jewelry industry.