The Silver Charms Source

Sterling silver charm bracelets are fantastic pieces of jewelry because they are easily personalized and always unique. They allow you to get your creative juices flowing and craft something that’s truly meaningful. Making a charm bracelet is a fun activity no matter what your age bracket is, and makes for a wonderful activity to do with friends on a rainy day.

Silver vs. Sterling Silver

I get this question all the time - ‘What’s Sterling silver and how is it different from regular silver?’

The answer comes down to what’s in the metal. Pure silver is a soft and easily deformed metal. This is generally unsuitable for jewelry or other fine works. People generally get upset when their expensive jewelry gets all bent out of shape, so other metal elements are added to the silver in order to a blend what is called an alloy. One of the most common silver alloys is sterling silver, which has 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. The copper adds strength and support to the silver without detracting from its stunning good looks. The only bad thing about this is that the copper could react with oxygen in the air, causing tarnish. Make sure to take good care of your sterling silver so that this doesn’t happen to you! This alloy is an industry standard and has been known for good quality for hundreds of years.

Sterling Silver Charm Bracelets

Making a sterling <a href=”http://charms-store.com/silver-charm-bracelets/” title=”Silver Charm Bracelets for Sale | Gold and Silver Charm Jewelry” target=”_blank”>silver charm bracelet</a> follows the same process as making any other kind of charm bracelet. If you really want your bracelet to be of high quality, make sure you insist on sterling silver when you’re shopping. If the retailer doesn’t know or won’t tell you what kind of silver it is, that generally isn’t a good sign. Quality bracelets have quality materials - insist on the best!

Choose a group of charms that really mean a lot to you and place them symmetrically around the bracelet. For some things, the placement is more important than others. This will depend on your theme and how you want to display things. Generally so long as it looks nice to you, it’ll look nice to others, too.

The best way to get good at making silver <a href=”http://pandoracharms.all-productsreview.com/?p=43″ title=”Pandora Charms Bracelet | Pandora Charms” target=”_blank”>charm bracelets</a>  is to try a variety of different styles. You can always remove the individual charms later, so give your wildest ideas a try and see how they come out!

This week we bring you something sure to warm your hearts. A silver charm featuring Snoopy and Woodstock from the Peanuts. This adorable charm is brought to you by the crafty folks down at Zulu Moon. Take a look for yourself:

I love this silver charm because it brings back all of my childhood memoreis of watching Snoopy and the gang on their many adventures. They really got the likenesses down very well too. A nice touch is that you can connect the charm from both Snoopy and Woodstock’s heads, so that neither is dangling around. Overall this is nothing but a heartwarming high quality silver charm. And that’s why it’s our unique charm of the week!

Keeping your silver charms beautiful isn’t a hard task so long as you make sure to follow a few simple tricks. A silver charm or charm bracelet is a precious and personal joy, so be diligent in keeping it beautiful. Following a few tips in silver charm maintenance will guarantee that your silver charms will last a lifetime.

What’s Threatening the Silver?

Knowledge is power, as they say, and knowing what could go wrong with silver jewelry is the first step to preventing it from happening. So what’s taking the shine from your silver charm? The answer is tarnish. Tarnish is what happens when different elements in the environment react chemically with the silver. The very air itself is against you in this, specifically sulfur compounds.

Where Does The Sulfur Come From?

The sulfur tarnishing your silver comes from many different common sources, some you wouldn’t expect at all! Other than from the air, sulfur also can be introduced to your silver charms through the very foods you eat. The big culprits in this are eggs, onions, vinegar, broccoli, olives, fruit, tomatoes, and common table salt. Letting residues from any of these linger on your silver charm bracelet is just begging it to become tarnished.

Preventive Measures

You can make sure that your silver charms retain their shine by polishing them every once in a while. So what’s the best way to polish silver? Here’s a few tips:

1) Take off any dust which may be on the surface first by rinsing the silver charms in warm or hot water.

2) Buy some silver polishing solution and spread it over the silver with a warm sponge.

3) Gently rub away at any tarnished areas until the polishing solution has removed any visible signs of tarnish.

4) Rinse off the solution with some warm water - make sure you take it all off!

5) Dry the silver charms thoroughly. Any remaining water can make it easier for the silver to become tarnished all over again.

Everyday Diligence

Polishing away tarnished silver can be a chore, so try to make sure that your charms don’t become tarnished in the first place. The first trick in silver charm care is to keep them dry and away from liquids. Always make sure to store your silver charm bracelet in a safe and dry pouch when you’re not wearing it, too. With a little love and a little care, your silver charms will stay beautiful for a long, long time.