About our jewellery
All of our pieces of jewellery are made of 925o silver and they are all plated, except for those that are designed and are intentionally oxidized and therefore are not plated. The plating is done with platinum, yellow or pink gold, or rhodium. Plating allows us to extend their shine and expand the choice of colours. All the stones used for our jewellery are genuine and not synthetic ones.
The metal
Silver (argentum) is a metal that was discovered by man in prehistoric times. Its use, in manufacturing of objects and jewellery, has been continuous and dates back to antiquity. In its pure form silver is a rare metal, solid, opaque, heavy, soft and with a strong metallic luster. It is the whitest of all metals and the one with the highest surface reflectivity. Silver is considered a noble metal along with gold and platinum.
The alloy
In jewellery manufacturing, we use silver in the form of an alloy, which consists of silver and other metals. Pure silver is too soft and therefore more difficult to process and loses its shine faster. We create a silver alloy to increase its stength and hardness; the silver alloy allows us to process it without damage, but also slow down its oxidation. Of course there are cases where the use of pure 1000o silver is necessary for making elements which are part of a piece of jewellery, in techniques that require softer metal. The alloy we use to make our jewellery is 925o. This means that it contains 92.5% pure silver along with other metals. It is an alloy of high purity and therefore it is soft and gentle as a feeling on the skin and anti-allergic and it does not cause irritation in contact with the skin.
Natural oxidation of silver
Silver is not corroded by the atmosphere and water, but its surface is oxidized as it is affected by sulfur and sulfur compounds and ozone. So it darkens on the surface. This is a characteristic of the metal and it is something we cannot avoid. But we can delay its oxidation, restore a piece of jewellery to its original state, such as the moment we bought it, and learn how to care for it, store it and use it properly in order to delay wear from use.
Plating
Plating is a thin layer of metal that covers the outside of the jewellery. It can be pink or yellow gold, platinum, rhodium and other metals. We use plating in all of our jewellery in order to extend their shine and have the choice in colour. Silver gets oxidized and gradually tarnishes on the surface, so when plating it with gold, platinum or rhodium, we delay its oxidation, as the coating of a thin layer of metal that does not get oxidized protects it from rapid oxidation. The plating certainly does not last forever. The thin layer of metal with which we have covered our jewellery will slowly go away with use, and the more we wear the jewellery, the faster it will go away. The sweat of our body alone is enough so that our jewellery lose their plating. Especially if we wear our jewellery in the shower, at sea, when we sleep, when we excersize, but also when we clean the house, as it can come in contact with powerful cleaners, we speed up this process. Especially for the rings, due to the friction, the plating wears out faster, so we recommend the platinum plating for rings, beacuse platinum has the same colour as silver, and as the plating dissapears with the use, there will not be any colour contrast.
Jewellery care and cleaning
You can restore the shine of silver jewellery if you gently rub it with a soft toothbrush with hot water and baking soda (baking soda powder) and then rinse it with clean water. After using them, it is advisible to wipe the jewellery with a soft cloth or special jewellery cleaning cloth, before storing them until their next use. The cloth will remove any cosmetics and sweat, which, if left on the jewellery, can accelerate their dullness, and surface tarnish. In case the plating of a piece of jewellery is gone and has been oxidized, we can also take it to a special laboratory so that they can clean it, polish it and plate it again.
Storage
Silver jewellery should be stored when not in use, as it gets oxidized. It is better not to leave them exposed for a long time in the atmosphere and in a humid environment. We store our jewellery in such a way, that they do not come in contact with each other. Silver is a fairly soft metal and is therefore very easy to get scracthes when touching other metals. Jewellery boxes, fabric, leather or velvet cases or plastic airtight bags (with zip closure) or even, if we do not have any of the above, the packaging of the jewellery we bought it are some of the best options for proper storage of jewellery, when the jewellery is not being used.
Proper use of jewellery
We avoid wearing our jewellery when we bathe, shower, when we are at sea or swimming, when we sleep, when we do gymnastics, or other intense activity, if we want them to last longer. Silver is a fairly soft metal, so be careful not to hit it, so that it does not scratch or warp. We do not use cosmetics, perfumes or sprays while wearing our jewellery, because the chemicals they contain can damage them, especially when there are stones attached to them, which are more sensitive to chemicals and can lose their shine or even colour. Some stones are very sensitive to high temperatures, so we avoid doing intense manual work while wearing jewellery. Jewellery, whether plated or not, is sensitive to chemicals, which will accelerate their oxidation and in the case of plating will remove it faster. Better to wear our jewellery last, after we have used perfumes and cosmetics.