At Blake Brothers, we offer a wide range of beautiful sterling silver jewelry, sourced uniquely from our international providers directly to you.

There's a lot more on our website about the story of Blake Brothers and our unique catalog, but let's talk a little bit about taking care of the items that you buy. Many of our customers have asked us about these issues, and we are pleased to provide some guidance on long-term ownership of nice jewelry pieces.

Maintaining Sterling Silver Jewelry

One of the biggest questions in taking care of sterling silver jewelry is whether these items will tarnish over time.

Sterling silver jewelry can oxidize, which creates a tarnished effect, but it depends somewhat on the environment and care. It's often recommended that the owners wear the pieces of jewelry regularly, although avoiding cleaning products and caustic chemicals is a must. Storing sterling silver jewelry in the correct way can also minimize any tarnishing. For example, an air-sealed Ziploc bag can prevent sterling silver jewelry from fading into a tarnished state over time.

Know Your Grade

It also helps to understand the grade of jewelry that sterling silver jewelry represents.

As jewelers will tell you, sterling silver is 92.5% silver, along with a small amount of alloy metal (usually copper). The reason for the alloy is that pure silver does not work well for jewelry and similar consumer products as it tends to be too soft. Still, unlike silver-plated items, sterling silver does have a very large proportional amount of actual silver in its design. By contrast, a lot of the silver-plated items now in junk heaps have little silver value.

You can find more information about the silver content stamped on many jewelry pieces, and understanding the value of sterling silver helps you to know what you're handling as you wear and enjoy these items.

Securing Jewelry

We've heard so many horror stories from customers about losing their precious pieces of sterling silver that we concur with a lot of expert recommendations for securing jewelry wherever you go. A home safe is an excellent idea, and we always recommend using available lockers and safes in hotels and during travel. In addition, you can create documentation for your sterling silver items, such as a notebook, or even a spreadsheet that keeps track of what you own and where it is at any given time. There's also jewelry insurance for more valuable pieces.

Take a look at the wonderful catalog of beautiful, affordable sterling silver jewelry available from our e-commerce site at Blake Brothers International. Be sure to look for regular discounts and special offers. Enjoy!