Articles & How To
How to Make a Silver and Stone Inlay Pendant
The following step by step article explains how to make an inlay pendant from sterling silver materials and a variety of gemstones.
You can read the article on this page or download it. The article was originally published in Lapidary Journal (Jewelry Artist)
magazine in November 2006.
Tips for Caring for Your Silver Jewelry
Sterling silver and fine silver are beautiful metals that will last for generations with proper care. Listed below are tips for caring for your silver jewelry.
To prevent tarnish, store your jewelry in the anti-tarnish bag that came with your SilverWear Jewelry purchase. This special copper-colored bag prevents tarnish. Use it until the copper color turns black.
If you do not have an anti-tarnish bag, store your jewelry in a cool, dry place. Silver tarnishes when exposed to air, so it’s a good idea to keep your silver in airtight zip lock plastic bags or an airtight container when not in use.
The best way to clean your jewelry is with a professional jewelry polishing cloth. Use the polishing that came with your SilverWear Jewelry. The cloth is treated with cleaning and polishing compounds. The cloth last a long time. It will turn black with use, but it will continue to work. Rub the jewelry gently with the cloth. Polish chains with care. Do not wash the cloth or make it wet. Silver polishing cloths are available at major retailers, hardware and jewelry stores and online stores.
At SilverWear Jewelry we do not recommend polishing pastes. Never dip any silver jewelry in ‘dip’ solutions or commercial cleaning solutions even though it may say that it is for silver jewelry. Dip cleaners will work the first few times, but after that, the silver jewelry may change color and will never look the same. Also stones and beads could be damaged by dip solutions. You should be careful using ultrasonic or ionic cleaning machines, they can damage some gemstones. Carefully read the information on your machine to make sure it is safe to use with the jewelry you want to clean.
Remove your jewelry when you are cleaning. Always remove your jewelry before using any product that contains bleach, ammonia, alcohol, fingernail polish remover that contain acetone, and turpentine. Some of these can cause a breakdown in the metal alloys leaving your jewelry beyond repair and dull or even pit the surface of your gemstones.
Remove your jewelry before gardening, exercising and especially when swimming.
Remove your jewelry before taking a shower or a bath.
Remove your jewelry before going to bed, especially necklaces and earrings.
Movement during sleep can also cause stress and break chains. You can damage earrings if you leave them in while you sleep or you could injure your ear.
