Jewelry is a fairground in which charlatans operate. There are fly-by-night operators that can dig deep into your pockets and make you poorer by thousands if you are not careful. Silver jewelry or coins are fertile grounds for these smart people to try their hand at deceiving you. They will fob off contaminated metal as silver and you will be left holding the bag – empty, as it were. Aiding them ably is the similarity some metals like nickel have to silver in look and feel. Even experts can at times be taken in by their glib talk.
However, you are not without hope. There are many ways to check the veracity of the sterling silver jewelry. It is a simple method and the things you will need are everyday things. Even if you were an expert, it will not do you any harm to conduct this simple test. A cigarette lighter, an unused soft cloth, a little vinegar, a dropper and French’s Mustard is all you need.
First, put the mustard in the dropper. Just a drop is all that you need, so just a tentative squeeze of the dropper head is enough. Take the piece of the supposed silver jewelry and put a drop of the liquid on it. Flick the cigarette lighter and hold the flame under the portion of the silver jewelry where the drop of mustard is. Be judicious in deciding how close the flame should be to the jewelry so that possible discoloration may not take place. If it is a sunny day, we would even recommend putting the silver up to the sun. The sun will take over the job of the cigarette lighter with efficiency, without the risk of the item burning. Remember silver jewelry burns easily and the stains are somewhat difficult to remove.
French's Mustard has sulfur in it. If it is heated when in contact with silver, it produces silver sulfide. If you find a dark and black stain forming on the jewel, you can be sure that it is silver that your jewelry is made of. You are lucky that it is pure silver that you had purchased. You can now apply vinegar to the stain and wipe it off with the soft cloth. Be careful and allow the sterling silver jewelry to cool down enough in order not to burn your fingers.
However, you are not without hope. There are many ways to check the veracity of the sterling silver jewelry. It is a simple method and the things you will need are everyday things. Even if you were an expert, it will not do you any harm to conduct this simple test. A cigarette lighter, an unused soft cloth, a little vinegar, a dropper and French’s Mustard is all you need.
First, put the mustard in the dropper. Just a drop is all that you need, so just a tentative squeeze of the dropper head is enough. Take the piece of the supposed silver jewelry and put a drop of the liquid on it. Flick the cigarette lighter and hold the flame under the portion of the silver jewelry where the drop of mustard is. Be judicious in deciding how close the flame should be to the jewelry so that possible discoloration may not take place. If it is a sunny day, we would even recommend putting the silver up to the sun. The sun will take over the job of the cigarette lighter with efficiency, without the risk of the item burning. Remember silver jewelry burns easily and the stains are somewhat difficult to remove.
French's Mustard has sulfur in it. If it is heated when in contact with silver, it produces silver sulfide. If you find a dark and black stain forming on the jewel, you can be sure that it is silver that your jewelry is made of. You are lucky that it is pure silver that you had purchased. You can now apply vinegar to the stain and wipe it off with the soft cloth. Be careful and allow the sterling silver jewelry to cool down enough in order not to burn your fingers.
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