Silver Earrings

Sterling silver is one of the better options, and considerably better than the base-metal earrings most reactions come from. Worth knowing: sterling is 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metal, usually copper. A small number of people react to that copper. If you react to sterling itself, you need implant-grade titanium rather than a different precious metal.

Mostly, but the word gets used loosely. Nickel is the metal that causes the overwhelming majority of jewelry allergies, and sterling silver doesn't contain it. That's why sterling is recommended and why cheap "silver-tone" earrings — which are usually nickel-plated base metal — cause the reactions people then blame on silver.

They do, and it isn't a fault. Tarnish is copper in the alloy reacting with sulphur in the air. A polishing cloth removes it in under a minute. Earrings worn constantly tarnish more slowly than ones left in a drawer — skin contact keeps the surface clean.

Water is fine. Chlorine is not — it pits sterling silver in a way polishing won't fix, and it's permanent. Take them off before a pool or hot tub. Showering in them just leaves soap film, which dulls rather than damages.

As jewelry, yes; as scrap, very little — sterling's melt value is a few dollars an ounce. What you're paying for is the making, not the metal. That's also why a well-made sterling earring outlasts a gold-plated base-metal one costing the same.

That's exactly what our gold pairs are — sterling silver with gold over it. Done properly it's called vermeil and requires at least 2.5 microns of gold; ours is 3.0. Done cheaply it's a flash coating at 0.2 microns that wears off in a season. Same base metal, completely different lifespan.