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Sterling Jewelry
Jewelry is a big part of our lives, men or women alike. Of course, this is much more evident in women as they seem to require it as a part of their wardrobe and overall appearance. Some men wear bracelets and earrings as a form of enhancement for their preferred look. However, only a minority really wear the expensive pieces of jewelry when out of their homes – usually on a socialite function or an exclusive gathering.
For everyday use, the mostly inexpensive, yet good looking pieces of jewelry are worn. Many might not know, but the most common kind found among your collection is sterling jewelry, made from sterling silver.
You may have noticed in your chemistry classes or in the Periodic Table of Elements the element Ag, which is silver. In case you didn’t know, there was a time in ancient history wherein silver was of more value than gold. This gives us an idea as to how precious people considered silver then. Nowadays, silver might not be as valuable in terms of money, but a lot of people still consider it useful and valuable in its own way. One of these is for jewelry purposes.
Pure or fine silver is too soft to make into a piece of jewelry. Therefore, what jewelers figured out was to create an alloy composed of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper – this is called sterling silver. By using 92.5%, there is more than enough silver to keep it precious while the 7.5% copper provides just enough of the durability that pure silver does not have. The percentages are just enough to keep it from being too hard (related with copper content) while retaining its value (related with silver content).
Sterling jewelry is very popular since it is not overly expensive and comes in many varieties – bracelets, necklaces, pendants, chains, earrings, rings, anklets, and more. If by any chance your sterling jewelry breaks and you want to replace it, it is not too difficult to do so. Not only is it a great deal in terms of value for money, it also looks good. It looks very shiny, complete with gleams and glints under the lights, especially when you first obtain it.
Sterling jewelry however, will not remain shiny for as long as you own it. In fact, in approximately a few weeks after you obtain a piece of sterling jewelry, you might begin to notice some tarnish appearing (it still depends on the frequency of use and exposure). The cause of this is normally the oxygen in the air reacting with the copper in the alloy, not the silver. When tarnishing occurs, do not panic and dispose of your sterling jewelry quickly.
You can simply clean and get rid of the tarnish. You can do this at home and it takes only a little time and effort for it to look as good as new. There are products in the market that are made specifically for the purpose of cleaning silver, which you can use. Just remember to clean gently so as not to damage the piece itself.
Another benefit of having sterling jewelry is that it adapts well when you place a valuable stone in it. Many people, especially women, love having turquoise in their necklaces. In fact, turquoise and sterling silver is said to be the perfect combination. The combination of stone and sterling jewelry is not limited to turquoise only; you can experiment in placing other precious stones to your liking.
Sterling jewelry is popular not only in America, but all over the world. The famous tourist spot Bali, located in Indonesia, is known for its sterling silver jewelry. People from all over the world spend their vacation in Bali and usually bring with them a piece of sterling silver jewelry as a souvenir. They themselves can see the beauty and value of owning sterling jewelry.
If you are a jewelry lover and you don’t have sterling jewelry, go to a local silver shop and check it out. It will not be a useless purchase; in fact, it will be very useful since sterling jewelry can be used in a lot of ways. It is precious, but not too precious as is the case with pure metals and gemstones.
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