Ever wonder how you can clean your Silver?

Silver jewellery gets dirty just from everyday wear and handling. Silver also gets tarnished when it is constantly in contact with oxygen and sulfur in the air. A tarnished appearance occurs when sulfur becomes bound to the surface of silver.

They (whoever "they" are) say that prevention is better than cure! Thus applying that same principle to your silver jewellery, it simply means, to prevent tarnishing and maintain a piece’s lustrous appearance, keep silver jewellery in a sealed bag when it is not in use. When placed in the sealed bag, make sure that the sealed bag is completely dry. Moisture will cause silver to tarnish.

Here's a couple of suggestions on how to clean your silver - (1) Jewellery cloth (2) Windex - indeed! Jewelry cleaning cloth is made up of two sheets of cotton: the outer layer is cotton for buffing, and the inside layer contains special chemicals that will whiten silver jewelry and make it look like new. Each cloth should lasts for dozens of uses. Hand polishing silver is a great way to keep silver shiny, and will not damage its patina. Jewellery cloth is for sale at most jewellery shops.

Perhaps the father character from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is not that far off! Windex can be used to clean your silver only if your silver does not also contain any cubic zirconia, glued stones, or other precious stones. Dipping the jewellery in Windex and then in clean water can make silver shiny again. It is not as effective as a jewellery cloth cleaner, but it can be used in a pinch when you’re getting ready for a night out and a jewellery cleaning cloth is nowhere to be found (and assuming you have Windex handy)!

DO NOT clean your silver with tooth brushes or any object with bristles. Silver is a very soft metal, and this will result in permanent scratches which will devalue your jewellery. It is also a bad idea to wash sterling silver jewellery with stainless steel jewellery. Washing them together will result in chemical reactions, staining the sterling silver jewellery with black marks. Also, using soap which contains phosphate can turn your sterling silver jewellery brown.

If you have any other tips, feel free to share them!

Jacqueline Potter Collection Photography

Just when you thought you have seen it all, Jacqueline Potter Collection is introducing Jacqueline Potter Collection Photography!

JPC Photography is original work by Jacqueline Potter. The photographs you see on the website cannot be found in any retail store unless copyright has been granted. JPC Photography collection is for sale in two forms - (1) by print (2) electronically. These photographs combined with a little imagination and tasteful framing, they can be a great piece of art work for your home, office, for personal use or as gifts. We can also turn these photographs into customised note cards, greeting cards, calendars etc. We invite you to visit Jacqueline Potter Collection Photography today and we hope you enjoy our gallery of photos.

What is Rhodium Plating?

Rhodium Plating over Sterling Silver will give silver the expensive, nearly identical to the "platinum" look. As many of you know, platinum is a more expensive form of metal. Rhodium plating is also very effective in preventing the effects of oxidation, or tarnishing, and it does not need to be cleaned.

To get really technical, this is how rhodium plating is done - A barrier layer of nickel is usually deposited on silver first, though in this case it is not to prevent migration of silver through rhodium, but to prevent contamination of the rhodium bath with silver and copper, which slightly dissolve in the sulfuric acid, usually present in the bath composition.

What is Sterling Silver exactly?

Just like 24K (pure) Gold, pure (100%) silver is extremely soft and looks bright white. To enhance its beauty and durability, the vast majority of fine silver jewelry is made of sterling silver, which is composed of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper alloy. Now you know!

For more silver jewellery, visit Jacqueline Potter Collection website.

Price of Silver soars

When we think of "commodities", we think of diamonds, gold, orange juice, oils, corn etc. Very rarely do we think of Silver. Well, silver is a form of commodity trade and as such is subjected to the fluctuation of global economy. If you are ever so slightly exposed to economic news as of late, you are probably aware that the global economy is going through a slight turbulence, triggered by the major powers i.e. U.S. and U.K, , started with the housing market (sub-prime mortgage) and oil prices. That naturally snow-balled to other parts of trade - Silver. Here's a quote from an analyst on silver - "Our fundamental view on silver remains bullish for the next few years, until we begin to worry about new mine supply from primary silver mines, as well as from byproduct silver from other new gold and base metals mines." All this is to say that you will start to notice a rise in Silver jewellery prices, if not now, in the very near future. So either buy your silver jewellery now or be prepared to pay a higher price for your future purchases.

You can rest assured that at Jacqueline Potter Collection, we are holding the prices of our Silver jewellery for as long as we can.

If you would like to read up more about the future of silver, here's an article from CNN Money - read article.

What is the hot jewellery in Paris?

We all know that Paris and Milan is where the world look to for next season's trends in fashion and beauty. Naturally, the adoption of jewellery trend is part of it all. After a trip to Paris last month, I've had a chance to look forward as well as "back" on jewellery trend. Looking ahead, huge and prominent jewellery that is the trend today, is here to stay. So ladies, don't toss out, trade in or store away your "chunky" jewellery just yet. As for colour, every colour under the rainbow spectrum is in, by itself or in combination. Intense colours are in. If you had a chance to watch the Oscars recently, brilliant and bold red, purple, green etc. lined the red carpet.

As for looking back, what better than to visit the museum of all museums - The Louvre! Here we start to understand that women adorning themselves with jewellery goes as far back as biblical times - B.C.! From the attached photos, you can see that jewellery women used to wear (roughly 2,000 - 6,000 years ago!) are quite similar to what we adorn ourselves with today! Perhaps the instincts for jewellery is embedded in our genetics? So ladies, next time your "significant other" questions the need for yet another piece of jewellery, you will have a ready excuse. :-)













Here, feast your eyes on jewellery worn by royalties!










Jacqueline Potter Collection

Mothers' Day this Sunday (for U.K.) - Gift Idea

Did you know that Mothers' Day is this coming Sunday in the United Kingdom? I had no idea. You see, in the U.S. (that's where I moved from, don't hate me), Mothers' Day is typically in early May, as with some other parts of the world as well.

So, if any of you out there are still looking for a gift for your mummy, may I suggest jewellery? I may be bias but if you really think about it, jewellery won't wilt in a few days (i.e. flowers) or add inches to her hips (i.e. chocolate) but it'll remind her of you every time she wears it. And with a classic or contemporary piece of jewellery from the JPC, jewellery collection designed to evoke conversations, you will never be far from her conversations with friends, co-worker, and family.

You can also purchase a Gift Certificate if you are unsure which piece your mum might like.
http://www.jacquelinepottercollection.com