Sterling Silver Rings Jewellery

The symbol Ag corresponds to Silver in the Periodic Table of Elements, classified with the atomic number 47. Ag is short for the Word “Argentum”, which means Silver in Latin.

Maybe this explains the word "Argent" in French, that means "money", probably from trading silver coins."Argento" means silver in Italian as well.

Argentina got its name because of the silver that the first Spanish expeditionists discovered, back in the XVI Century. The natives offered Juan Diaz de Solis objects of pure silver, which led to the discovery of the Sierra de la Plata, meaning silver mountain.

Silver has been used by men at least since 5000 BC . The oldest silver mines were found in Anatolia, Turkey , and skeletons wearing some kind of silver jewellery have been dated from 2800BC.

There were great silver mines in Greece, in a city called Laurion, right by the temple of Poseidon. That was 3000 BC. The Greeks did a good job at mining and refining silver, minting silver coins and using them as currency with other countries. They had a famous silver coin named the “owl” because it was shaped in the form of an owl. Silver´s popularity grew and expanded to other countries, who also started mining their own ores of silver. China was refining its own silver around 2500 BC.

The Phoenicians and Carthaginians mined abundant silver in Spain for many years, establishing mineries in different locations, some of which are still in use nowadays. After Columbus discovered America, many Spanish conquistadores went looking for gold and silver and found it in abundance in Mexico and Peru, and Argentina, where they established mines and claimed the riches for the Crown of Spain.

There was a law --in the olden days-- that all precious metals found in someone else´s properties, automatically belonged to the king. It made sense, in a way, because kings and monarchs had the means and slaves to properly mine, transport and commercialize the metals.

Silver´s color is bright white, with a beautiful metallic lustre and reflecting mirror-like qualities. No wonder that it became so popular amongst ladies and even gentlemen.

Costume Silver jewellery was easy to make, due to the properties of this special metal. Silver--like Gold--, is both malleable (you can hammer it into a thin sheet of silver) and ductile (it can be stretched into a silver cable).

The silversmiths could hammer it into cookware, silverware and all kinds of utensils and artifacts. Handcrafted silver jewellery produces beautiful silver rings, earrings, bangles, diadems, belts, chains, bracelets, etc.

Pure silver tends to tarnish a bit, when in contact with the sulphur that exists in the humid air. This is why is best --when not in use--, to keep your handcrafted silver jewellery wrapped up in a special silver cloth and inside a drawer or a box.

The good news is that if the color changes to yellowish or darker, it can always be brought back to its original shine and lustre by polishing it and/or washing it with the proper silver polish products.

As silver is a soft metal and can get scratched, or even break, they mix it with other metals to make it stronger. This mixture is known as "Sterling Silver".

Natural alloy occurs between silver and gold, nickle, arsenic, copper, etc. Silver is usually found mixed with other metals. The alloy with gold is valuable, beautiful and resistant and it does not tarnish.

Sterling silver --also known as 925 (because it is supposed to be 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% another metal) is stronger and more resilient than pure silver.

Nevertheless, some of the metals in its composition --when in contact with sweat and the different chemicals in the skin--, may leave a greenish or blueish stain in the place of your body where you are wearing your 925 silver rings. This can easily be removed, so it is not a big problem, just a little inconvenient.