Silver Sterling
Thursday, July 7th, 2011Silver Sterling
How do I get scratches out from my sterling silver bracelet?
I have a medic alert bracelet that's sterling silver. It cost quite a bit of money too! I've only had it for a month and a half and it has tons of scratches on it already. Any ideas?
Hi Jenn,,
You "can't" take scratches out.
Polishing metal is actually Removing the surrounding metal
Imagine slicing a potato in half,,,you get a nice,smooth,level surface,,right?
Then scrape a gouge across that surface.
Or even just a CUT--which doesn't remove any material,,it only parts the surface.
How can you "vanish" that surface disruption?
Only way is to shave another slice,,down to the level of the imperfection.
Thats an "exagerated illustration" to help explain how Surface Defects/Damage/etc are removed from metal.
It Does NOT "thin the metal by Half",,,but it DOES INDEED Remove Metal and will render it increasingly Thinner than Original each time it's polished.
It's also abrasive to any ornamental surface detail.
On Jewelry what happens is that polishing obviously doesn't simply "shave off a layer".
It Removes the metal AROUND the flaw,,,creating a wide,low angle DIP that blends into overall surface.
Silver is EXTREMELY soft,,,
You can actually Smudge Hi-Polished Silver with many types of common PAPER.
Scratches are almost unavoidable.
If You Get it Re-Polished,,,,
soon enough it will be scratched again.
Trying to keep it nice by Polishing will be a vicious cycle.
Best advice,,,Be VERY Careful with it,,as much as can be.
And "live with" the scratches,,as best as you can---only get it re-polished when ya just cant stand it anymore.
You can SHINE Silver Tarnish with any number of products.
But Removing scratches is a whole 'nother matter.
You Can't Remove a scratch,,only everything Around the scratch
Silver is good in "protected" applications,,Earrings,,pendants,pins,etc.
Rings,Charms,Bracelets,etc,, and anything subject to getting bumped or rubbed or coming into contact with another surface----it's almost Impossible to avoid scratches.
Something to consider:
If it's Hi Polished,,,,there's a variety of attractive finishes which tend to "hide" scratches so they dont show up so bad.
But they're all a form of "Matte" finishes,,,,
For example ,diamond cut is sparkly and will obscure pretty bad scratches.
Another thing you may consider is having it Plated in White Gold or Platinum(Rhodium).
You maintain the Silver Color,,,but the other metals are Much Harder and more scratch resistant.
It's only a FILM,,,so a hard lick would still scratch it.
But it minimizes to faint scratches quite a bit.
And it's fairly cheap.
Even if Your bracelet happens to have any enameled work on it as MedicAlert bracelets often do,,,that can be effectively "shielded",,and only the bare silver plated.
Good Luck
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