Jewelry care

Silver's brilliance, resistance to bacterial build-up, and rarity make it an ideal metal for jewelry making!

"White and shiny"

Silver is one of the first metals processed and used by humans. When polished it shines to an extraordinary degree, more so than platinum. That is why the chemical symbol of silver is "Ag", which comes from the Latin word "argentum" which means "white and shiny". The Latin word comes from the Greek "argyros" with origin from the adjective "argos" which in ancient Greece also had the meaning of "bright". The word "silver" comes from the expression "asimos argyros", meaning unmarked silver. Silver belongs to the class of noble metals along with ruthenium, rhodium, iridium, palladium, osmium and gold.

As a precious metal, it is used to make jewelry, but also as a savings and trading product. For stock trading, it is measured by the ounce and is traded, like other precious metals, on international financial markets. Commemorative medals and trophies are also made from silver, and until the 1970s silver coins were also made. Because it is the strongest conductor of heat and electricity of all metals, it is also used in many areas of technology as a material for industrial-scientific applications.

Silver as jewelry

Silver in jewelry can have different looks, depending on the techniques used for manufacturing, such as shiny, matte, oxidized, sandblasted, satin or even antique.

Pure silver is almost as soft as gold, making it impossible to create durable objects from it. So silversmiths mix it with other harder metals to make jewelry. In what is characterized as "silver jewelry" this mixing is done with a percentage ratio of 92.5% (up to 95%) for silver and for this the genuine silver jewelry bears the relative stamp 925. One can also find jewelry with a lower percentage content of silver, but these are not characterized as "silver" and of course you will not find such at emmanuela.gr.

But in order to be happy with our silver jewelry and always impress when we wear it, we have to take care of it and take care of it.

In our workshop we apply techniques to the manufacture of silver jewelry that make them more durable, so that you can enjoy them and wear them for long periods of time without the need to clean or repair them often.

When the designs and manufacturing conditions allow it, we polish the silver parts, so that they do not "blacken" and are more resistant to shocks and distortions. Rhodium, belonging to the platinum family, is an extremely expensive noble metal, harder than silver, but just as shiny and does not "tarnish". For the dark parts of the jewelry, we apply black perodizing. Finally, many of our silver jewelry is gilded with 24K gold, which of course does not tarnish.

The "tanning" of silver jewelry

Silver jewelry is not significantly affected by external factors, except that it "blackens" from time to time - when it is not parodized or gold-plated - forming stains, which in the initial stage are very easily removed with a soft cloth and a little rubbing. If our silver jewelry has "blackened" a lot, we use a cleaning liquid for silver objects, one of those widely available on the market. The "tanning" is due to surface oxidation which is caused by the contact of the silver with the sulfur present in the air of the atmosphere.

We should be very careful when using polishing liquids, as they are likely to discolor other elements of our jewelry, such as semi-precious stones, corals and pearls.
Carefully clean only the silver surfaces with a soft cotton cloth, which we have first soaked in the liquid cleaner. We rub with horizontal or vertical movements and not with circular ones.

Toothpaste; Probably not...

The well-known advice that in order to polish silver well, we use toothpaste is not so wise, since toothpastes contain corrosive agents which end up quickly causing more "tanning". This is why we do not recommend this polishing practice.

The "rules" of silver...

Like all jewelry, in order for silver to always remain shiny and beautiful as new, we must follow some rules:

• We never wear them when we are sweaty, when swimming, exercising or doing vigorous manual work, as pool chlorine, moisture and sweat salts are enemies of silver, while silver can easily be etched by minor scratches and altered by stress .

• We make sure to first apply the beauty products we use (make up, perfume, nail polish, creams, etc.) and then put on our silver jewelry. Silver should not come into contact with the chemicals and acids contained in these products.

• It is good to clean our silver jewelry with a soft cotton cloth after each use. Even better to wash them with warm water and a little soap. After drying them well with a careful wipe, we store them separately from the rest of our jewelry. Thus we remove the corrosive agents that adhere to them.

• We store them in airtight plastic bags, preferably those that "seal" and isolate the content, preventing it from coming into contact with the air.

• We place them separately from other jewelry or hard objects that may scratch the surface of the silver.

• We keep them in a place where the light does not "see" them.

Finally, there are special strips or fabrics with an anti-corrosive action for silver. We can place them in the places where we store our jewelry to protect them from corrosion, long-term and more effectively.

Do you have other questions?

At emmanuela.gr we will be happy to give you even more information regarding the precious and semi-precious materials we use in our jewelry, as well as our techniques. Please do not hesitate to submit questions and queries to info@emmanuela.gr or by phone at (+30) 239 1021132.