Oxidation of silver

Let’s look into sterling silver jewelry using the cross necklace as a point of reference because the cross necklace genre of silver jewelry has plenty of both types of silver jewelry that we’ll need to reference in this discussion.

When a silver cross necklace is exposed to air over a period of time it will tarnish or oxidize leaving a dark patina on the cross necklace. Is that bad. From what we have said so far it would seem the automatic answer is yes. But is it really bad for the cross necklace? Let’s look at some examples of the sterling silver cross necklaces for a comparison.

There are four pictures sterling silver cross necklaces. The first two cross necklaces are flat, smooth and have a high shine. The second two cross necklaces are fancier with textured designs and have chemical oxidation. All four cross necklaces look great in their own right. So is chemical oxidation good or bad for silver jewelry. The answer is both.

On a smooth high shine flat surface the oxidation would look bad but when it is used in the case of the last two cross pendants it looks good. The chemical oxidation helps show contrast with the raised textured cross pendants.

To protect the smooth surface silver cross pendants store them in a zip lock bad away from the air. Buff them with a soft cotton fabric. Some people have gone the extra mile and coated the silver cross necklace with clear finger nail polish to protect the surface.