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KEEP YOUR PIECES ALWAYS CLEAN AND PERFECT

CARE AND MAINTENANCE:

We want you to enjoy our pieces for the rest of your life. If you take time to look after and clean the piece it will be beautiful for many years.As you can imagine, it is advisable not to scratch, bang or step on the piece. It may happen sometimes that a silver piece blackens (oxidises). That`s a chemical reaction of the natural acids from the skin or the air with the metals included in the silver alloy. Pure silver (100%) is too soft to be used in jewellery making. So, other metals as copper or brass are added in the alloy to get the required hardness (usually 92,5% silver and 7,5% other metals ). Different cleaning methods are used depending on the finishing and kind of surface of the piece.

SHINING SILVER WITH FLAT SURFACE:

Shining depends directly on the reflecting quality of the surface.The mirror effect decreases with every scratch. In the long term it can produce a very attractive “personal” finish.But if you prefer the polished silver you better get a cloth, plain or impregnated with special polishing liquids. By rubbing the surface with the cloth you clean the piece and decrease small scratches.In an extreme situation the surface turns matt. In that case the only solution is machine polishing, which any good jeweller can do for you.

MATT OR SCRATCHED SILVER :

We get the matte finish by passing the pieces under a high air pressure sand jet. This turns the surface uniform and light coloured.The scratching finish is achieved by a diamond sponge. This is a rubber piece with many small diamonds fixed on its surface, which we pass in all directions over the piece.To clean pieces with flat surfaces, which have either of these two kinds of finishes, we simply use a soft rubber eraser. The one you use for erasing pencil lines. Rubbing softly the piece with it is usually enough for getting the original colour back.In case the piece is too dirty or oxidised, or it has an intricate design which makes it impossible to reach the dirty zones with the eraser, the only solution is the immersion cleaning liquids.

OXIDIZED SILVER:

In some cases we oxidize the piece with special acids to get a dark finish, almost black.If the piece is totally oxidised you need to do nothing. The use will make the silver colour gradually appear from below. This can also be an attractive “personal” effect.If the design combines oxidised and shining silver you can use a cloth to rub the polished parts.It´s also possible to use the immersion liquids, but better try in a hidden corner of the piece first, because sometimes those liquids not only take out the dirtiness but also the oxidised part.Immersion cleaning liquids and impregnated clothes can be found in the SERVICES category of our on-line shop.If you have any questions about your jewellery care and maintenance you can always count with our help and advice.