to be gutted about my necklace

[polkadotsrock]

DH bought me a Tiffany necklace for a significant birthday on Sunday. I wore it that day and put it on this morning- just looked and it's tarnished!! I've waited a long time for something out of a Tiffany box and I'm pissed off that it looks crap already.

Thanks all, I'll purchase a cloth, but will still complain to Tiffany. I really think tarnishing that quickly is poor.

But it's what silver does if you want to complain, complain that it was sold uncleaned.

I guess that is my complaint if that's what caused it so soon. I get that silver tarnishes, I really do, but I've had it 3 days and worn it twice...

i have silver jewelry (not coated with anything special, i know because I made it!) that has not tarnished within a week!!

complain first to Tiffany

It's nothing to do with Tiffany. Silver tarnishes when certain chemical conditions are present and obviously they have been. Expensive though Tiffany jewellery is, it's not expensive enough for them to employ a scientist to follow you around making sure that the chemical conditions around your neck don't cause tarnish. It's a bit like buying a dress then taking it back and complaining it's bad quality because it gets wet when you wear it in the rain.

Complain all you want, but they're going to tell you that this is a natural phenomena which has nothing to do with the quality of their jewellery. And probably laugh at you a little bit.

And tarnish does happen faster in more humid conditions. So basically you'd be complaining they hadn't organised the right weather.

Yabu to be gutted. You can just clean it. It's not broken or damaged.

It's worth putting it on and just wearing it for a bit. My silver jewellery always tarnishes when I don't wear it but it comes almost straight back to normal once it's on.

Tescos sell the silver polishing cloths - they are in the cleaning isle and I think made by Goddards.

Search for the tarnish strips on Amazon which are made by 3M. Pop one in the box with the necklace and it will help when its not being worn.

Make sure you clean it after wearing as that will help too.

All of my silver tarnishes, although some worse than others, makes no odds whether its my Tiffany pieces or cheap bits off the market.

Do you live near the sea by any chance? Sea air seems to affect silver quite badly.

I have a Tiffany bracelet that tarnished really badly when I first started wearing it (it was black in places!) After polishing a few times it's not done it since - and I've worn it off and on for two years.

Gah! isle? Aisle! Can't even blame autocorrect for that one

OK silver tarnishes - some peoples skin causes the reaction, as do other chemicals as does just leaving it in fresh air frankly!!!

So polishing

Silver dip - fab - cleans up nicely when dipped then rubbed with a microfibre cloth - fined one with long fibres to get in nooks and crannies rather than a smooth one.

Buy yourself a silver polish cloth and just give it a rub before you wear it each time - its not over high maintenance really, I have some tiffany/1920 style silver brooch and necklace and it has some filigree effect so that needs constant attention, but I do this and once in a while when I have time I get the tooth brush out and use a bit of silver dip to scrub out GENTLY you can wear silver away by being too rough.

Its not something that makes the jewellery returnable really as its a known thing about silver. Although Tiffany may just take a hit for customer service reasons

I second the toothpaste, works really well.

Were you wearing sunscreen?

I had a Tiffany ring for my 18th birthday that tarnished to black within a couple of days. I was disappointed but wrapping it in tinfoil with a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of bicarbonate and really hot water cleans it perfectly, just make sure the jewellery is touching the tinfoil and that you polish it with a soft glasses cloth afterwards.

Light (sun etc) speeds up the oxidisation process. It is a natural process with silver and there is little you can do to stop it, though you will probably find in the winter months it happens less quickly.

As others have said and you have said, once you have a silver polishing cloth, you can pull the chain through it and polish whatever dangly bits with it and it will bring it up beautifully.

It probably came with an anti tarnish pouch or a box, if you store it in that it will help in between wears.

I have had hammered silver stuff and Sterling silver that does this - its what it does. The price tag does not change an element.

Wrt the tin foil thing - it turned my silver bracelet completely black took forever to polish back to normal, not sure what I did wrong.

What a lovely present. I have lots of silver bangles and pendants and they do need a bit of attention. Be careful with agressive cleaners, the cleaning cloths are good for delicate stuff. I use sudocrem on my heavy bangles but it's not good for delicate stuff or fine twisted stuff as it gets in the gaps and is a bugger to get out.

I second dipping it if it's at all elaborate-otherwise the cleaner gets into the nooks and crannies and can be a pain to get out .And treat it gently .
I'm surprised it tarnished so quickly .I have a silver pendant I rarely wear and I do buff it up occasionally but it dulls rather than tarnishes .But I agree Tiffany will tell you it is what silver does

Although some Tiffany jewellery is expensive, much of it isn't , they have a lot of inexpensive price points, so I wouldn't expect it to be the finest silver.