To Polish Silver Jewelry or Not To Polish Silver Jewelry

I was recently a part of a spirited discussion about whether or not one should polish silver jewelry. There's actually a lot of pros and cons on this topic and I think everyone has a strong opinion on what is the right thing to do.  It's also a matter of aesthics - do you like your jewelry polished, or do you like a vintage patina.

Highly polished silver is most likely to catch the eye.  It definitely provides more bling for the buck.  Most modern pieces of silver are also coated with a finish that keeps the silver looking newly polished for years.  A very light cloth polish is more than enough to keep the jewelry looking good for a long time. Museums use soft, untreated cotton gloves to routinely polish their silver and that would work fine on modern jewelry as well.  If you use silver polish and jewelry cleaners you are likely to take off the special finish and destroy your piece.

Older pieces of jewelry were not treated with a tarnish retardant.  As a result, you can get silver that has turned totally black.  When I got the rooster brooch, that was the case.  This particular piece has a lot of fine detail , so I chose to polish it so that the fine details of the rooster can be seen.  That way a buyer can either leave it that way or choose to polish it even more.

Keep in mind that if you polish silver with fine details, you are also rubbing those details away each time.  To prevent this, your best bet is to prevent the tarnish in the first place by using proper storage. Do not store the pieces in plastic bags or plastic wrap.  It's not good for the silver because it doesn't breath and moisture may build up.  Heat may cause the plastics to adhere to silver.  Instead, invest in special silver cloths or bags that are treated for silver to prevent tarnish.  I have my silver necklaces stored this way and I probably only need to polish them lightly once every 10 years. 

Of course, not all silver jewelry is silver color.  Sometimes a gold wash has been used over the sterling.  In these instances, you need to be even more careful of polishing, even with treated jewelry cloths.  Its very easy to rub the gold wash right off the piece.  I've seen many Coro retro pieces where the wash was either gone, or gone at all the high points because of rubbing.

As you can probably tell, I'm a fan of not over polishing.  I think these earrings look best because the delicate design has been accentuated around the edge and in the center by tarnish.  Furthermore, any type of polish or even a jewelry cloth might adversely affect the crushed turquoise in the design.  Add to that the fact that these earrings are signed pieces from Mexico, I know I want to be really careful so that I don't destroy the value.

Of course, sometimes the need to polish is called for.  These amethyst earrings just look dirty with the uneven tarnish.  The grooved design doesn't help either.  These need to be cleaned up quite a bit with a very gentle silver polish to look their best.  Then, if they are appropriately stored, they should look lovely for years to come.

Regardless of how you like your silver to look, there are two important things to remember.  First, think carefully about the products you use and what damage they might do to your pieces.  And secondly, tarnish prevention is always better than polishing.  If you keep these points in mind, your silver jewelry should always look lovely.