Very few fashion acccessories are as versatile as a sterling silver bangle. Young girls love them with jeans or a prom dress. Older ladies wear them with their Sunday best or out to lunch wearing their favorite sweater set. Professional women often find that a sterling silver bracelet bangle is the perfect day time accessory. There’s something universal about a bangle and its simple form.
Bangles are rigid and do not flex. They can either be created with a hinge that can be opened so that the bracelet can be worn or they are an unbroken circlet and can be slipped over the hand and up the arm. While its form adds to its versatility, a bangle’s simple appearance is a large part of its charm. Silver has been used for centuries to create lovely items for the home. Almost no other decorative item is as lovely as a classic silver candelabra loaded with lovely tapers and casting a beautiful soft reflected light. A sterling silver bangle bracelet is just as classic and time honored as candelabra. It seems likely that the first use for sterling silver was to adorn a beautiful woman and help her attract the attention she craved.
Women who love jewelry also love the look of sterling silver. Yet, many people are concerned about the tendency that sterling silver has to tarnish; however, tarnish is easy to remove. A badly tarnished sterling silver cuff bangle is not as attractive as it should be.
There are several ways that tarnished sterling silver can be cleaned. One can clean a tarnished bracelet with a dip cleaner that will remove all traces of tarnish. A dip cleaner is particularly effective on a smooth surface because it removes all of the tarnish and restores the sparkle and shine. Tarnish can also be removed with a special polishing cloth or paste cleaner that will leave the lovely carved designs in the decorated bracelet darker and more pronounced and still creating sparkle and shine on the smooth surfaces. This is a lovely effect that actually enhances the beauty of the bangle over time. Most jewelry stores and many department stores have the polshing clothes, dip or paste cleaners for sale. There are home made silver cleaning solutions as well. All of these choices reduce the concern about tarnish.
Silver tarnishes because fine silver must be mixed another metal to strengthen it. Fine silver is not mixed with any other alloy and as a result, it is not a good medium for jewelry because it is not hard enough to hold its form. Sterling silver is a combination of fine silver and an alloy. That alloy is usually copper. Copper tarnishes when exposed to oxygen and moisture. Copper has been used successfully mixed with fine silver for a couple of centuries even though silver manufacturers are always searching for a different mix that gives silver another marketable element and makes it less likely to tarnish.
When shopping for a solid sterling silver bangle, one needs to examine the bracelet for hallmarks that let the buyer know that the item is truly sterling silver. In the United States, one will see the word “sterling” stamped in an unobtrusive place. Other countries have other standards which include the markings .925 or .9258. If there is doubt, then it is possible to find a source that will list all hallmarks used in sterling silver. A sterling silver oval bangle will be marked as such, assuring the buyer that they are receiving exactly what they are paying for.
A sterling silver bangle is practically ageless. Since it is a piece of classic jewelry, a well made, lovely bangle will survive fads and be acceptable as an accessory long into the future. This quality makes the bangle a wonderful gift that will be cherished for years to come. It is not hard to picture someone finding their bangle in the jewelry box twenty years into the future and being overjoyed to have something new to wear.
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