A chain after six months

A silver chain bought last year has gone yellowish, with a dark patch near the clasp. Take it back to a shop and the first thing you hear is usually: is it fake?

Almost certainly not. Silver reacts with sulphur compounds in the air, and with components of sweat, forming a layer of silver sulphide on the surface. The colour runs from pale yellow to near black. It has nothing to do with purity and nothing to do with quality. It is simply silver getting on with its surroundings.

Copper behaves much the same way. Exposed to sweat, moisture and oxygen, it slowly forms oxides that read dark brown or verdigris. An antiqued piece already counts that colour as part of its design, so the change is less obvious; a high-polish copper piece loses its shine visibly and takes on a haze.

Once that is clear, caring for a piece feels different. The job is to make the change slower and more even, not to prevent it. No metal stays new. Even oxidation can look good: the recesses of a pattern deepen, the relief reads more clearly. A lot of antiquing is chasing exactly that effect.

Storage does most of the damage

Most people assume damage happens while a piece is being worn. It happens less then. Most of it happens after it has been put away.

A few chains dropped into one box tangle and rub against each other, and the next morning costs five minutes of unpicking. Rings and pendants piled together knock against settings and loosen the claws. Once or twice shows nothing; after a year it is obvious.

The remedy is not complicated: separate, dry, and little contact with air. Different metals kept apart so they do not rub; silver sealed in its own bag with a small sachet of desiccant; anything with a setting stored on its own, not stacked; chains fastened before being laid flat or hung, so they do not knot themselves.

If you have the space, use a compartmented box with three layers: worn often, worn occasionally, out of season. The first layer on top, within reach. The out-of-season layer underneath — the long chain you only wear with heavy knitwear, say — handled less often, and therefore rubbed less.

Three wearing habits

Jewellery first, perfume and skincare after. The alcohol and oils in cosmetics and scent settle on metal, speed oxidation and lodge in the gaps around a setting. Skincare, make-up, perfume, then wait for the skin to dry, then put the piece on.

Take it off before a shower, a swim or exercise. Hot water and body wash strip the surface, chlorine is unkind to silver and to plating, and sweat is the most direct accelerant of all. A fixed place to put it down is worth more than half an hour of wiping later.

Take it off to sleep as well. Not only to avoid bending it out of shape: friction and sweat keep it damp for hours. Pieces with settings, tassels or dangling charms can deform or work loose overnight.

Wipe it before the first wear

Do not wear something new straight out of the box. Wipe it first with a dry soft cloth to remove fingerprints and dust from handling and transit. Where a dry cloth will not shift it, go over it with a barely damp cloth and dry it immediately.

Then test three things. Does the clasp open and close smoothly, is the ear back tight, has the chain developed a sharp kink. Faults in new pieces usually show up in those three places, and finding them early leaves room to exchange.

By material

Silver first. A soft cloth for everyday wiping. When oxidation is obvious, polish gently with a silver cloth. A silver cloth cannot be washed; washing ruins it. Do not soak pieces with settings in silver dip — the liquid seeps into gaps and can affect the adhesive behind a stone. If it will not be worn for a long time, wash it, dry it, and seal it in a bag.

Copper changes faster and needs more frequent attention. Wipe sweat off with a dry cloth after wearing, and do not leave moisture sitting on it. Do not polish an antiqued piece hard: you will take off the darkening that was put there on purpose, and the depth goes with it. To bring back shine, use a little metal polish and test it first on the least visible edge.

Plated pieces — silver-plated brass, gold-plated brass. The key is less friction. The layer is thin, and the places that rub repeatedly show the base metal first: the inside of a ring band, the links of a chain that flex. That is a property of the process. Clean with a soft dry cloth, avoid abrasive polishing cloths, and keep them out of an ultrasonic cleaner.

Beads and cord. Natural stone and wooden beads dislike long soaking; cord dislikes being pulled. Do not tug when putting a bracelet on, and store it flat rather than hanging, and it will last much longer. Cord that has furred, thinned or faded is telling you to restring it — do not wait for it to snap somewhere inconvenient.

Ear backs, clasps and cord

The large pieces get looked after; the small parts are what let you down. A loose ear back loses one earring. A tired spring in a clasp opens by itself one afternoon. A worn cord gives way when you bend down.

None of them are expensive or difficult to replace. Keep a few spare pairs of ear backs; silicone and metal grip differently. Replace a slack clasp rather than squeezing it with pliers — metal that has been forced is more likely to break. Restring cord when it needs it, not after it has failed.

One more place: the small ring that joins a pendant to its chain. It is easily overlooked and it takes the whole load. Every so often, try to open it with your fingers; if it opens, it needs closing up.

Travelling

Two things get overlooked on a trip: pressure and damp. Take a small rigid box, or seal pieces separately in bags, each wrapped in a soft cloth. Do not drop them loose into a suitcase compartment, and do not let them mix with keys or charging cables.

If you are taking one piece, choose the most versatile and the least fragile: a plain pendant, a fine bracelet, a ring with no setting. A set piece looks better, but the chance of a knock on the way is higher, and it is not worth it.

A hotel bathroom is high-risk territory. Get into the habit of putting a piece back in its box rather than setting it on the edge of the basin. Something lost there is essentially gone.

One crude but effective trick: carry a palm-sized sealable bag, and put anything you take off straight into it. Better than a pocket full of keys or the bottom of a bag, where the zips are.

When to stop wearing it

Skin that stays red and itchy, particularly where the metal touches. It may not be the material itself: it can be irritation from sweat reacting with the metal, or plating worn through to the base layer. Stop wearing it, give it a few days, and change material if it persists.

Structure that has gone slack. A deformed loop, claws that have opened, cord that has furred. All of these mean "not broken yet, but soon". The price of carrying on is usually the whole piece on the floor.

A sharp corner appearing on the edge of a motif. Cast pieces can raise a small burr after a knock, which catches clothing and scratches skin. A light pass with fine abrasive paper usually deals with it. Do not take a file to fine chased work yourself; give it to someone who knows how.

Some things are not worth repairing

Unpleasant, but true. Solder a broken joint on an ordinary plated chain and the repair can cost more than a replacement, the colour will not match afterwards, and the joint leaves a visible mark.

What is worth repairing is something else: good material, a technique that cannot be replaced, or a piece that has stopped being merely an accessory to you. That deserves time and money. The judgement is personal and has no necessary connection to price.

Plating gone over a large area, a lost stone, a silver piece bent until it cracks: none of those are cheap to put right. Ask the price first, then decide. Do not leave something unwearable in a drawer for years out of reluctance to let it go.

Why silver seems to get brighter

People say silver brightens with wear because the body "absorbs" something. The nearer explanation is duller: wearing involves constant light polishing, and oils from the skin leave a thin film that reads as shine. The same process brings sweat and oxidation with it. So a piece can brighten or darken with wear, depending on the person's sweat, how often it is worn, and how it is cleaned.

"It gains a spirit after years of wear" is a different kind of statement, an emotional one. A thing that has stayed with you a long time acquires feeling. That feeling is real, and it does not need mysticism to explain it.

Five minutes a week

Wipe the pieces you wear most with a soft cloth, paying attention to the side that touches skin. Check clasps, ear backs and cord for slack. Put silver back in its sealed bag and press the seal shut. Move anything unworn this week into the compartmented box rather than letting it gather dust.

Once a quarter, go deeper. Silver cloth for silver; a dry cloth and a little polish for copper; a soft brush with clean water for settings, brushed quickly and dried at once. Do not use toothpaste — the particles are too coarse and leave fine scratches. Do not put set pieces in an ultrasonic cleaner; the vibration can loosen claw settings.

Jewellery is made to be worn, not kept. Protect it from every knock and the result is that it never leaves the box. An old piece with a patina from wear, its edges slightly brightened, usually looks better than it did new, because there is time on it.

A few specific problems

A knotted chain. Do not pull; pulling tightens it. Dust on a little talcum or chalk powder and work the knot open with two needles. With no tools to hand, lay it flat and roll the knot gently under a fingertip; most fine chains come apart. The prevention is to fasten the clasp before storing, so the chain stays a closed loop.

A stuck ring. Raise the hand for a few minutes to let blood drain, then lubricate with soapy water or hand cream and turn it off slowly. Do not pull hard, and do not run it under cold water — the joint tightens instead. If it will not come off, get help before the finger swells.

Silver gone black and won't polish. Work out first whether it is oxidation or plating worn away. If a patch stays dark after polishing, or the colour is uneven, the plating has probably gone and the base metal is showing. Polishing will not bring it back; it needs replating, or you accept the aged look.

Slack cord. It stretches with use and gaps appear between beads. Do not keep wearing it — restringing is the easy answer. While it is apart, check each bead's hole for cracks and replace the cracked ones, or the whole strand ends up on the floor.

Humid south, dry north, the coast

In the humid season in southern China, humidity sits above 80% for weeks and silver oxidises noticeably faster. The worst pattern is a day of wear followed by three days in the open: either wear it regularly, where friction acts as continuous polishing, or seal it properly and keep moisture out. Half and half does the most damage.

Northern winters are dry indoors with central heating and a sharp temperature difference outdoors. Metal expands and contracts slightly with heat and cold, and settings can loosen by degrees; check them once a quarter. Thick knitwear and scarves also abrade a chain more than summer clothing, and long chains catch on fibres.

Coastal air carries salt, which is unkind to metal and particularly to plating. After a day by the sea, rinse quickly with clean water — plain unset pieces only — and dry thoroughly with a cloth. Anything with a setting should not be rinsed; wipe it with a barely damp soft cloth.

People differ

The same silver piece stays bright on one person for six months and dulls on another within a week. It comes down to the acidity and sulphur content of sweat, sebum production, and whether skincare is used. It is not a verdict on anyone's constitution, only a difference in how fast the chemistry runs.

If a particular piece keeps irritating you, the safest response is to stop wearing it and change material: plated pieces to S925 sterling silver, metal ear pins to silver or titanium. Do not talk yourself into "it will settle down". Your skin's reaction is worth taking seriously.

Changing material does not solve everything. Some people react to sweat itself, whatever the metal. In that case, wear less, or wear it over a layer of clothing.

Occasion and restraint

For formal occasions, fewer pieces. One pendant with some weight and a pair of very small studs usually looks better than a full arrangement. Where the hands are busy — a meeting, a meal — wide bands and bracelets knock on the table, so leave a couple at home.

In places that need quiet — a library, a meeting room, a theatre — dangling charms, tassels and clusters of small pendants will keep chiming. Those belong to ordinary days and casual wear. There is only one rule of wearing etiquette: do not let the jewellery disturb anyone else.