Caring for your Tawbis Studios jewellery

Most of our jewellery is made from sterling silver, copper, brass, or a combination of these. All precious and base metal jewellery requires some care and maintenance to keep it looking as good as the day you purchased it. If well cared for, this jewellery should last forever.

What is Sterling silver?

Sterling Silver, sometimes referred to as .925 Sterling Silver, consists of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The addition of another metal serves to make the silver harder and less likely to bend or get deformed when worn, but also increases the likelihood of the jewellery tarnishing over time.

All sterling silver will tarnish under certain conditions or if stored for a long time, but tarnish is very easy to remove and relatively easy to prevent.

What is tarnish?

Tarnish is caused by a natural reaction that occurs when silver or copper (including the small element of copper within sterling silver) reacts with sulphur that occurs naturally in the atmosphere. Tarnish on silver (including sterling silver) will appear as a blackening of the metal, eventually turning a dark grey-black colour. This is sometimes used consciously for artistic effect on some pieces of jewellery, in which case it is more likely to be referred to as oxidisation rather than tarnishing: although it is not true oxidisation, this term is used to differentiate it from tarnishing, which tends to refer to the accidental blackening of the metal over time/use.