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The History & Care of Silver
History of Silver
It is thought that the first people known to wear silver jewellery were the upper-echelons of society in Ancient Egyptian times.
The Greeks and later the Romans also used silver extensively for decorations and jewellery. Sadly, over time, their knowledge of mining techniques was forgotten, and although silver mining continued, mainly in Spain, into the Middle Ages, the methods used were not very efficient. The result was that silver jewellery was expensive and only affordable by the rich.
Later the Spanish Conquistadors discovered huge silver deposits in South America, which were mined, using slave labour, and sent back to the Old World.
Most silver today comes from Mexico and Australia and thanks to advances in mining techniques and transport methods, silver jewellery is now an affordable luxury for all of us.
Care of Silver Jewellery
Sterling silver is not pure silver. Pure silver is quite soft, and jewellers usually combine it with another metal to make it more durable. Sterling silver is made up of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The disadvantage of this is that copper tarnishes quite quickly and so sterling silver jewellery needs cleaning more often than pure silver jewellery.
The best way of keeping silver jewellery looking at its best is to use a special silver cleaning cloth to clean your jewellery item before storing separately in a sealed plastic bag. Take off any silver items when washing dishes, taking a bath or going swimming to avoid contact with water and detergents. Unfortunately a few folk tend to find their silver jewellery tarnishes more quickly due to the chemical make-up of their skin.
It is possible to buy jars of silver cleaning solution, and although they are very good for some silver items, care must be taken not to immerse items with semi-precious gemstones, as the solution can ruin them.
Care of Sterling Silver Semi-Precious Gemstone Jewellery
Wipe the gemstones with a moist cloth and carefully clean the silver parts with a silver cleaning cloth. Keep away from hairspray, cosmetics and perfume as chemicals can damage some semi-precious gemstones.
Care of Sterling Silver Cubic Zirconia Jewellery
Wash in warm soapy water and clean the silver parts with a silver cleaning cloth.
Information on Hallmarking
Taken From the British Hallmarking Council Website ( http://www.britishhallmarkingcouncil.gov.uk/publications/hallmarks2.pdf )
The Hallmarking Act 1973 was changed on 1 January 1999 and allows articles of higher and lower standards of fineness to be sold. This brings UK law into line with European law. Consumers may now choose from a much wider range of goods but continue to benefit from the same level of protection.
It is illegal for any trader to sell or describe a precious metal article as gold, silver or platinum unless it is hallmarked. Gold articles weighing less than 1 gram, silver articles weighing less than 7.78 grams and platinum articles weighing less than half a gram are exempt from hallmarking.
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