The beauty of a precious stone or gem consists of its color or colorlessness, brilliancy or softness of luster, and transparency. To take a high and lasting polish, a mineral must be hard, —and many stones that would otherwise be highly valued are low in estimate of worth because they do not possess of sufficient hardness to make them endure wear and friction to which a precious stone is subjected when used in form of jewelry. The rareness of precious stones has a decided effect in determining their values. For instance, crocidolite, commercially known as tiger-eye, was sold by carat some years ago, and was largely used in making of fine jewelry. Today, this material is so plentiful that it is no longer classed among higher gems, but serves for cameos and intaglios like chalcedony and onyx.

Sterling silver jewelry: silver and gemstone rings, sterling silver earrings, bracelets and pendants are some of hottest fashion accessories today! Sterling silver jewelry is enjoying an unprecedented popularity with today's fashion conscious public. You know how beautifully sterling silver jewelry complements fashionable clothing and how it sparkles and shines; now here is rest of story.

Silver has been used since ancient times, but has not survived as well as ancient gold because it tarnished and decomposes. There have been times, however, when silver was "in"; we are going through such a vogue today.

Silver is most common of precious metals. Fine silver is pure silver, which is seldom used for jewelry because it is too soft. Sterling silver is 925 parts silver to 75 of copper, alloy most often used. Silver weighs about half as much as gold, has greater flexibility, but is not as malleable, it has always been less expensive as well. A comparable piece of gold jewelry might cost four or five times that of a piece of sterling silver jewelry.

The current fashion trend toward black clothing has made silver jewelry more popular than ever. Silver likes to be worn; it stays cleaner & shinier through movement and friction. So sterling silver is a perfect accessory for today's fast paced lifestyles. Much like gold, sterling silver needs to be cleaned.

Care and Cleaning of your Sterling Silver Jewelry