Jewely Care and Metals
Top 4 Simple Jewelry Care Tips:
- Avoid having your jewelry come in contact with oils, creams, lotions, cleaning agents and excessive water.
- Avoid wearing your jewelry in salt water, pool water and in spas.
- Clean your jewelry pieces regularly with the polishing cloth provided with your order.
- Store your jewelry in a muslin bag and/or tarnish resistant copper bag.
Metals Recommended for Metal Sensitivities:
Argentium silver 935 is a modern sterling silver alloy, containing 93.5% silver. The traditional sterling alloy (92.5% silver + 7.5% copper) is modified by removing some of the copper and adding the metalloid germanium.
Titanium is a natural nickel free metal. Very lightweight, but extremely strong it is the best option (outside of solid gold) for those with an allergy to nickel. We use grade 1 titanium to design our jewelry pieces.
14kt Yellow Gold is more durable than 18kt or 24kt gold because it’s a mixture of metals. It’s 58% pure gold and 42% alloy (silver, copper, zinc). It’s a great choice for because if its durability and luster.
14kt Gold-Filled is not to be confused with gold plated. Gold filled jewelry means that gold is permanently bonded to as base metal (usually brass) for durability (if you ever notice how higher carat gold is softer). Gold filled is a great choice for jewelry because it doesn’t tarnish and doesn’t contain nickel.
Other metals:
Brass is actually an alloy (which is a combination of metals) made up of copper and zinc. It is free of nickel and generally safe to wear. It’s an alloy of zinc and copper. Typically if you have an allergic reaction to metal it could be either the presence of zinc or copper. Everyday wear and contact with liquids, lotions or any form of chemicals will lead to a bit of tarnishing, but you can clean it off. Warm soapy water with a soft cloth works well or even toothpaste believe it or not. Just be sure to shine it with a soft dry cloth afterwards.
Copper is a pure metal and allergy free. However, certain people may have a slight sensitivity to it. It makes great jewelry, over a time copper develops a Patina look which is an oxidized greenish color and still manages to look very nice. Wearing copper for extended periods of time can make your skin green. Copper is also super easy to clean, check out how here .
Sterling Silver .925 sterling silver is usually nickel free, 92.5% is silver and the remaining 7.5% is made up of other metals usually copper. Besides for tarnishing, which can easily be cleaned sterling silver is a pretty good choice for jewelry.