Our Jewellery

All Silvary Jewellery is made from precious 925 Sterling Silver. Unless otherwise stated in the item description.

What is 925 sterling silver?

Sterling silver is the highest quality silver used for jewellery, an alloy of pure silver mixed with other metals to increase durability.

Pure silver 99.9%, also referred to as fine silver is too soft to use on it's own for jewellery and is too pliable and can easily dent, bend and scratch. Sterling silver has 92.5% pure silver and the remaining 7.5% comprises of other metals, usually copper to toughen it up! Hence the name 925 sterling silver! But can also be referred to simply as 'Sterling Silver'.

Other metals can be used but copper is a wonderful companion (and the most widely used), making the silver durable whilst maintaining the lustre and stunning colour.

Hallmarking

As it isn't possible to know the precious metal content of your jewellery by sight alone, a hallmark guarantees that your jewellery conforms to the legal standards of purity (or fineness).

Pieces are independently tested at one of the UK's Assay offices and must consist of the following 3 marks. Applied by a punched stamp or a laser for more delicate items.

Sponsor's Mark - the designers or manufacturers unique mark
Standard Purity Mark - the metals purity and fineness mark, in our case 925 for Sterling Silver
Assay Office Mark

In the UK Sterling Silver must contain at least 92.5% of pure silver and every piece of sterling silver jewellery weighing over 7.78g should be hallmarked. We use genuine 925 sterling silver in all of our pieces which is why our silver is stamped with the 925 purity mark. Our pieces over 7.78g are hallmarked at an Assay Office as required.

Silver Jewellery Care Guide

Silvary Jewellery is made from 925 sterling silver. A metal that does need a little love and care to keep it at it's best.

Tarnish is caused by a reaction with sulphur that naturally occurs in the air. Tarnished silver will turn a darkish grey-black colour and is most easily removed when it first becomes visible.

Sterling silver will naturally tarnish with exposure to the air, environment, perfumes, moisturisers, hairspray, soaps and perspiration etc. These are obviously a fact of life so regular cleaning will help keep your silver sparkling.

5 easy ways to keep your silver jewellery at it's brilliant best:

Make accessorising the last finishing touch – Select your jewellery after you have applied make-up, perfume and hairspray to avoid unnecessary contact with these chemicals.
Do not swim or shower in your jewellery.
Remove your jewellery before exercising - wrestling with jewellery whilst Zumba dancing is not a good idea anyway!
You may want to show off your jewellery on the beach but the direct sunlight, sand and salt water and sun-cream won't do it any favours, save it for wowing when having cocktails on the terrace later.
Storage is king! Continue reading for my guide on the best way your jewellery looking it’s best.

Cleaning your Sterling Silver Jewellery

Your silver jewellery will love:

Silver jewellery with no gemstones or pearls can be washed in warm water with a mild detergent. Completely dry with a soft lint free, or nonabrasive cloth before storing. Please don't use your kitchen paper towel to dry as this can scratch your silver!

If you have discovered some older Sterling Silver jewellery that has been unloved for a while, you can lavish it with warm soapy water and gently use a soft natural bristle toothbrush to clean, dry throughly as above.

If you need something a little more robust try a polish specifically for silver like Silvo (i.e not Brasso or pledge!). Simply shake well, apply with a soft cloth and leave to dry. Gently rub off with a clean soft cloth and get ready to discover some serious sparkle.

Specialist silver polishing cloths are also ideal companions to your jewellery. 100% cotton infused with special silver cleaners. These clever silver dusters will help bring your jewellery back to life on a daily basis, essentially lifting off dirt, grease and fingerprints. Simply rub over your jewellery...and voila gleaming jewellery!

And 2 things your silver jewellery should never see....

Silver Dips - we don't recommend the use of silver 'dips' or liquids as these work by dissolving the silver sulphide and can damage the surface of the silver and wear it down over time. Even though cleaners might give a temporary shine, the pieces will tarnish much more quickly and have to be cleaned more frequently once you have broken down the surface.

Toothpaste – Being a mild abrasive it can help to eliminate minor scratches but if not used properly we have found it can damage and scratch your silver and leave a dull film. A safer option for removing scratches on your jewellery is to have it professionally polished.

Storing your Sterling Silver Jewellery

Sterling Silver loves somewhere cool, dark and moisture free to live.
Give your jewellery a little love with a silver polishing cloth after wearing and before putting away.
Fasten all of your chains to stop them getting tangled, always fasten any extender chains on the last hole.
Store your jewellery in an airtight jewellery box or even in little airtight ziplock bags or soft pouches and always separately as they can scratch each other.

Oh and you know those little bags of Silica you get in your lovely new handbags, shoes etc... they are great moisture zappers so pop a couple in your jewellery box.

Silver that is regularly worn typically needs less care, so a great reason to wear your beautiful pieces regularly..... but not on the beach or during Zumba classes:)