Jewelry Care

Cleaning, Storage and Precious Metal Information

Exposure to air brings oxidation which results in tarnish. When you are not wearing your jewelry, (did you know that wearing your jewelry helps to minimize tarnish!) you should store your sterling silver and gold (gold tarnishes too!) in an airtight container such as a polyethylene, zip-top bag. Storage within specially marked "anti-tarnish" containers is helpful, as are anti-tarnish strips.

When you wish to clean your precious metal jewelry, avoid abrasive polishes, dips, scrubbing tools (such as steel wool), toothpaste, etc.  Although dips remove tarnish at an accelerated rate, they are too strong and you may end up removing an important layer of the silver’s surface.  When this happens, your silver may discolor and will tarnish more quickly in the future.

For minor cleaning, we recommend using a minimally invasive method such as a polishing cloth specifically designed for silver or gold.

Most sterling silver jewelry is stamped with either a ".925" or "sterling silver" mark.   A ".925" represents the silver content of all sterling silver. Silver is a very pliable metal, therefore .075 of other, stronger metals are added to "harden" the silver. You should note, some of the charms are smaller or intricate and the mark is difficult to see and/or not apparent to the naked eye. With that said, it is very important to make your sterling silver and 14k purchases from reputable jewelers only.  All products available through MyCharmedLife are guaranteed to be .925 Sterling Silver or 14k Gold.