Intercept Jewelry Care Blog
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Silver Storage Bags: A Solution to the Chemical Impact of Sulfur on Silver
Tarnish is a chemical reaction on the surface of metal. It causes a layer of corrosion on any metal object, whether it is silver, brass, or copper. Historically, objects made from silver were created for a variety of reasons, ranging from religious, artistic, technical, and domestic uses. To this day, silver still plays a substantial part in our lives. -
Anti tarnish charcoal paper
There are several types of anti tarnish paper and film that have been widely used in an attempt to protect silver and electronics from corrosion (aka tarnish). One particular type of anti tarnish paper is a carbon based product that is also referred to as charcoal paper. And while this charcoal paper is not totally effective for tarnish prevention, its lack of effectiveness is due to some inherent properties common to these carbon based papers. Let’s take a look at one of these properties, its ability to absorb corrosive gases:
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Lower Silver Prices to Increase Demand
With demand for silver still very high due to high priced gold (even with the recent decline in gold prices), silver demand remains strong. However, the price forecast for silver in 2014 is expected to be lower than in 2013. This drop is expected to further increase interest in silver.
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Anti tarnish coatings for silver
In our last blog, we discussed some of the various types of anti tarnish coatings. Now we will take a more in depth look as to the effectiveness of these coatings.
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Anti tarnish platings and coatings
In our last blog we discussed how packaging can cause silver to tarnish and what to look our for with your packaging so it does not create tarnishing issues. This brings us to the next subject in this seriesm anti tarnish plating and coating for tarnish prevention.
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Packaging's effect on silver
One of the most common issues that retailers and manufacturers of silver and silver jewelry experience, is tarnishing of their silver when stored and/or shipped in their boxes. Many of these companies find out after the fact, that their packaging, be it ring boxes, bracelet boxes, etc., is causing the silver to tarnish rapidly.
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Prevent Contact with Corrosive Gases, Prevent Tarnish
Corrosion of your precious metal valuables can occur in a number of ways. In order to efficiently prevent tarnish, you need to understand the causes behind the corrosion process and what is really going on.
Metals can be classified as either noble or non-noble. As far as corrosion goes, we are more concerned with non-noble metals, which require refining to be useful. However, nature is always seeking to return these metals back to their original existence as ores, oxides, etc. which is where the corrosion kicks in.
As we know from our previous newsletters, air polluted with tarnish-causing (H2S, NOX, SO2, HCl, O3) is the main cause of corrosion. Atmospheric corrosion occurs when such air pollution chemically reacts with the metal surface of your silver jewelry or other valuables in an attempt to return the metal back to the way it normally exists in nature. So, it is nature and chemistry that causes corrosion, not water and temperature as you may have been misinformed. It is worth noting, however, that water and temperature can accelerate the rate of corrosion so be sure your metal valuables are in a cool, dry place during storage.
In order to properly protect your silver and jewelry, you must use anti-tarnish packaging that not only prevents contact between corrosive gases in the air and the surfaces of your metal valuables but eliminates these gases entirely. No gases, no contact, no corrosion!
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Showcase Your Silver, Safeguard Your Sales
As we know, tarnish prevention products come in many forms. These papers, pouches, bags, etc. are typically meant to protect individual items. But what about larger spaces like your in-store jewelry display cases? If not protected in some way, these enclosed areas continually expose the items inside to corrosive gases in the air as they are opened and closed. Luckily, there are anti-tarnish products that can successfully filter the air and sufficiently safeguard a retail jewelry case. -
Sodium Nitrite: How Does it Affect Your Silver?
What is the connection between sodium nitrite and your silver? You may be familiar with sodium nitrite as a carcinogenic food preserver commonly found in processed meats. What you may not know, however, is that this substance is also an ingredient in certain anti-tarnish packaging products available today. -
Do Retailers Really Need Tarnish Prevention Packaging?
There are many types of silver storage and jewelry packaging items available today. While their purpose may be the same, quality and efficiency are what separate the best from the rest. But do we really need tarnish prevention packaging? Retailers say yes, and they require it from their vendors! The trusted storage that retailers prefer is based on proven long-term, non-toxic protection that successfully prevents tarnish.
So how important is the tarnish prevention component of your jewelry packaging? It's extremely important because environmental corrosion is ever increasing and so are the challenges of keeping silver and other metal valuables from tarnishing under these worsening conditions. The rising amounts of H2S and other tarnish causing gases in the air affect all levels of the retail supply chain from jewelry manufacturing plants overseas to warehouses, safes, and display cases here in the U.S., right down to customers at home. For retailers, tarnished merchandise costs them money through vendor and customer returns and lost sales, especially in highly polluted regions like Asia and India where a lot of silver jewelry is manufactured. Retailers simply cannot afford to lose potential sales because their merchandise is not up to par.
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Anti-tarnish Testing: Theoacetamide Test
In our last post, we discussed the inaccuracies of the sulfur soap test as a representation of the realistic sulfur environments that silver jewelry encounters and tarnish prevention efficiencies at those levels. As experts in the field of silver tarnish prevention, we feel a responsibility to bring you accurate information and clear up any misleading data that we come across on this subject. Like the sulfur soap test, we have discovered another anti-tarnish test that is not entirely reliable when it comes to protecting your jewelry from tarnish and corrosion. -
Sulfur Soap Test: What it Does and Does Not Tell Us About Tarnish
There is a great deal of testing that has been conducted to examine the various causes of tarnish and corrosion. Let us look at one of these procedures in particular, the sulfur soap test. It is designed to accelerate the tarnishing process within a very highly concentrated sulfur environment and the effectiveness of certain technologies against these extreme sulfur levels. The natural assumption would be that if these tarnish prevention products work at such high levels of sulfur, then they must work for lower levels as well, right? Wrong!
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