If you own or wear jewelry often, you already know that properly caring for it is crucial to keeping it protected and clean, looking its best, and ensuring longevity. This is especially important to prevent your jewelry from any tarnish. You are most likely already familiar with the common tricks of the trade such as not getting your jewelry wet and not wearing it during physical activities like working out. You may keep it safely stored in a jewelry box or container as well. But did you know that anti-tarnish paper effectively protects your jewelry from damage?

Your jewelry is undoubtedly precious. Whether it marks a milestone, was given for a special occasion, or has an important significance to you, it likely holds sentimental value. With that being said, you want to ensure that your jewelry remains clean and looking its finest. While you probably already know not to wear it when taking a shower, doing strenuous chores, and to keep it away from harsh chemicals, did you know that air pollution can also cause damage to your jewelry?

If you own jewelry, you probably keep it stored in the packaging material it came with which tends to be some kind of box or fabric pouch. Things like necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings are among the belongings being stored in their original containers and this can pose some problems because the environment they are in could be damaging!

For over a century, protective measures against corrosive gases in the atmosphere have been a major concern because certain methods weren't exactly turnkey solutions to prevent corrosion, tarnish and degradation. Some forms of corrosion protection included chemically coating or oiling the specific metal but as time goes on, this coating would simply wear away and no longer provide protection. Another form included the change of the pH properties of the metal which would affect overall performance. As time progressed, Intercept Technology^TMwas introduced as an effective anti-tarnish solution for metals like silver but how did this technology come to be?

Every day we are exposed to toxic chemicals that are within our atmosphere and the unfortunate reality of it is that our environment doesn't seem to be getting any better. With noxious fumes, harsh pollutants and other contaminates being released from manmade equipment and products, it's no doubt that these airborne toxins can affect the quality of the air. Even with the notable and globally observed Earth Day, an effort to reduce our impact on the environment needs to be greatly increased to lower the amounts of pollutants that enter the atmosphere.

Historical Flashback - 1795 Boston Time Capsule Opened

We go through life collecting memories, of times of people, sometimes all it takes is a part of a song, or the sight of some long forgotten trinket to allow memories to come cascading back into our conscience minds.  Times capsules are nothing new, but what they do give us is a glimpse of a time gone by, insight into what the people who so tenderly put away their memorabilia considered important or worthy of being saved for later generations.  We do not have them here to let us know why they saved particular items, but we are allowed new insights. 

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.

As wedding season approaches, brides everywhere are in the midst of making final decisions for their special day. Of all the details like the venue, the guest list and the wedding dress, every bride has to figure out how her bridal party will look! Bridesmaids play an important role in any wedding because they are the go-to gals of the wife-to-be and need to complement the bride as she stands at the altar.

So you've decided it is time to add sterling silver jewelry to your ever-growing collection but what is the best way to begin this journey? To start off, sterling silver jewelry offers you timeless elegance and with the proper care, it'll last for many generations to come. Before you head to a local jewelry store, there are some things to know before you're blinded by all those gorgeous pieces.