Does sterling silver tarnish?

Yes, it does. Tarnish is a normal chemical reaction — it is not a sign that your silver is fake or low quality. It is harmless and comes off. Pure silver barely tarnishes at all; it is the copper added to make sterling silver (92.5% silver, 7.5% copper) that reacts with sulphur in the air to cause tarnish.

Why does sterling silver tarnish?

Sterling silver is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. The copper reacts with sulphur in the air and on your skin, producing a thin layer of tarnish — dull yellow first, then grey, then nearly black if left long enough.

What speeds up tarnishing on sterling silver?

Perfume, hairspray, lotions, and household cleaning products all accelerate tarnish. Sweat and skin acidity play a part too. Damp conditions and storage in humid environments also speed it up, as does exposure to swimming pools and the sea.

How do I slow down tarnishing on sterling silver?

Wear it regularly — skin contact and friction keep silver bright. Put jewellery on last, after perfume and lotion. Take it off before swimming, showering, and cleaning. Store it somewhere dry in a sealed bag with the air pushed out, and use an anti-tarnish strip for pieces you won't wear for a while.

How do I remove tarnish from sterling silver?

For light tarnish, use a silver polishing cloth — a minute or two of gentle rubbing will lift the dullness. For heavier tarnish, use a dedicated silver cleaner sparingly, then rinse and dry fully. Avoid abrasive pastes and be careful around set stones. If tarnish won't shift, a jeweller can professionally clean and repolish the piece.

Stacked 9ct gold and sterling silver rings worn together.

Should You Wear Gold and Silver Together?

August 6, 2026

This is something I get asked this more than almost anything else. A client wears predominantly silver Jewellery, or white gold, but they have fallen in love with a gold piece, let’s say for this example it's a ring. They now want to know if they have to eschew all their silver/white gold pieces when they wear yellow gold and visa versa? Can they wear silver and gold on the same finger or is that a total no-no?

It's a twofold question. On one hand (excuse the pun) there's a question of style - does it look good? On the other, it’s a question of care, care of the pieces you are wearing, let’s not forget gold is expensive and jewellery - well at least well-made jewellery, is made to last. So, will wearing two different metals together harm them?

Let's start with the style issue. For most of the twentieth century the rule was pick a metal and stay loyal to it. Gold people wore gold and silver people wore silver, or white gold. That rule has quietly fallen by the wayside, which I think is brilliant as I personally love both. Silver came back with a vengeance on the SS26 runways at Ralph Lauren and Bottega Veneta, shown being worn next to gold rather than instead of it, and the stylist line doing the rounds this year is that mixed metals are effortless and deliberate, rather than mismatched. One stylist put it to WhoWhatWear this July as being about ease. Metals mixed together, worn like you "just flung them on darling" rather than sticking to the rulebook.

So, the fashion answer is yes, wear both, be a rebel, be free. I'd go further and say a collection built from pieces you actually love, gathered over years in whatever metal you liked at the time, always looks and feels more exciting and individual than one that's too carefully curated. This is all about personal style, so show your personality.

But here's the fly in the ointment - the other hand, and it's the one that actually matters to me as the person making the jewellery. What happens when gold and silver touch?

The bit stylists don't mention

Sterling silver is a harder metal than gold. When the two sit against each other, on a stacked ring or a bracelet worn close to a bangle, the silver will wear the gold down over time. Not dramatically and certainly not in a week. But rings that touch every day, day after day, for years, will show it. A soft scuff line or a thinning of the gold at the point of contact. This applies to different gold carats too, the softer, often more expensive metal, will come off worse in the end.

This isn't a reason not to mix metals, but it is a reason to take care about where they meet.

How to wear both without the wear

Give them their own finger where you can. Two rings on the same finger rub against each other constantly. Two rings on neighbouring fingers barely touch at all. If you've already gone for different metals that you want to wear together e.g. an 18 carat wedding band and a 22 carat engagement ring, get a jeweller to make a very thin band in 22 carat so that the thin band wears over the years, not your ring.

Watch your stacking order. If you're layering rings on one finger regardless, put the gold above or below the silver rather than pressed flat against it, so contact is a line rather than a full face.

Take rings off for anything with friction. Washing up, the gym, gardening. This matters more for a gold and silver stack than for a single metal worn alone, because friction is what causes the wear.

Necklaces and earrings are lower risk. They're not in constant contact with each other the way stacked rings are, so mixing a gold necklace with a silver one, or a gold hoop with a silver stud in the other ear, doesn't carry the same concern.

Let one metal lead. Purely as a style note rather than a material one, most of the mixed-metal looks that work well have one metal doing most of the talking, gold or silver, with the other appearing once or twice to add contrast, rather than splitting everything down the middle.

What I think

I make jewellery in both metals because I love them both. Wear your gold and silver together. Just give them a bit of space to sit next to each other rather than pressing them together. This way they’ll last for years and you can pass them on to your loved ones to continue wearing.

The one rule - no vermeil against anything - that stuff will just rub off.

If you're building a stack from scratch, my Twelve Months rings are made to order in solid 9ct and 18ct gold, along with sterling silver, and pair well with anything.

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