My Silver Gems

One of best gives one friend can give to another is a friendship bracelet. Friendship bracelets are meaningful symbols of friendship that are often handmade. Handcrafted bracelets can be simple creations of multi-colored thread, or they can be ornate compilations of silver and beads.Regardless of how expensive or fancy the bracelet is most friends consider friendship bracelets among one of the best gifts they can receive from a friend. The true meaning of friendship is in sharing the good times as well as the bad. Sincerity and love are the heart of the greatest friendships.

Moonstones belong to the mineral group feldspar. Almost two thirds of the rocks on Earth belong to the feldspar group. Traditional moonstones usually come from Sri Lanka. But they can also be found in Brazil, the United States, Australia, Madagascar and Myanmar. In recent years these stones have gained great popularity and can be quite expensive.

Moonstones come in a variety of colors and shapes. In the last few years green, brown, orange, black and red stones have been seen on the market in addition to the traditional blue. If you’ve noticed that those moonstone earrings your sister wears have a mysterious “shimmer” quality, you are probably noticing what’s called ‘adularisation’. This is when light rays are refracted and scattered in the stone. This process causes the unique light effect that prompts the stone to be so distinctive and desirable.

I was browsing the net to find a fashionable amber necklace to match my recently purchased dress.  Finding this site was exciting because of the huge variety of jewelries from handmade jewelries, chic murano sets to elegant silver jewelries, I’ve never seen as many choices as the ones I found here.

What is more fun is that I get to buy not just the necklace that I was looking for, but also other kinds of jewelries to match my other pieces of clothing because of the affordability of these products.

This site has the best selection of handcrafted silver jewelry by far. I’ve browsed a lot of online stores but I haven’t seen as unique and high-quality as the ones in this catalog. For me, nothing beats stylish class and affordability and having both, it would be just a waste of time looking somewhere else.

Even my friends that I’ve recommended this site with were all thrilled with what they saw and can’t seem to stop from shopping. Now they also can’t wait to tell about this amazing site to their other friends as well!

Part of proper care for your jewelry is to store them correctly.  Nice jewelry is typically unique and one-of-a-kind, so you don’t want to damage your Brazilian jewelry if it’s irreplaceable.  There are some fairly easy ways around this, though.  Here are some quick tips on jewelry storage.• Isolate each jewel from one another; an easy and effective solution is to wrap each piece in layers of acid-free tissue paper, untreated cotton, or raw silk. If you sew, you might try creating individual, acid-free bags for this purpose, which you can also purchase.

• Getting a jewelry box or jewel safe is imperative.  Separating your pieces will ensure that necklaces won’t get tangled up and you can avoid each item scratching one another.

• Avoid storing in acidic materials, including some types of wood, most cardboard, and paper. Acidity can tarnish metal and cause pitting on both metal and stones. Plywood and particle board can also cause adverse reactions over time, due to acids in both the wood and the binder.

As a precious metal, caring for your silver is an easy, but meticulous process.  At the same time, however, you don’t want to leave your jewelry to hands of time, only to have them tarnish and rust with age.  Simple care will avoid the hassles of attempting to restore jewelry that’s so far damaged that it is beyond repair, which would save you the pain of having to throw away unique handcrafted jewelry.• If there is no tarnish on your silver, use a phosphate-free detergent to clean it after use. Silver that is used then gently washed and dried immediately, will require seldom tarnish removal.

• When first noticed, tarnish is easily removed.  It becomes increasingly difficult to remove as it eventually turns to black. Frequent light cleanings, (washing the object with a phosphate-free detergent), then drying with a soft cloth is better than waiting until the tarnish gets so difficult to remove that more abrasive polishes would be needed.

• When polishing or drying always use a clean, soft cotton cloth. Certain items may require a clean soft cotton ball.

• Rub the object in a straight, back-an-forth manner so to maintain a uniform appearance.  Avoid rubbing in a circular motion.

• With the smallest amount of polish possible, use a large cotton ball and turn the surface being cleaned - avoid touching the non-silver portion, gemstone, or hollow part of the item with the polish.  Wood, amber, precious stones, gems, and ivory insulators can easily be damaged. 

• After cleaning, if you notice a purplish stain after cleaning your silver, do not attempt to remove it. This stain, (oxidized copper), is called firestain and is commonly found on many colonial through nineteenth century pieces.  The stain develops in sterling silver when oxygen penetrates the outer surface during brazing, oxidizing the copper.  Fine silver is left on the surface when acid chemically removes the oxidized copper.  These pieces will show this stain after many years of polishing.