Materials & Care
Solid 925 sterling silver
Every Marquezza piece is built on a core of solid 925 sterling silver — 92.5% pure silver, the same standard used in fine jewelry. Not brass. Not stainless steel. Not “silver-toned.”
The gold finish
Our gold pieces are solid 925 sterling silver finished in 18k gold. [CONFIRMAR COM SIHI: espessura do banho em mícrons — necessário antes de usar o termo “vermeil”]
Why inexpensive jewelry turns your skin green
Most jewelry sold online at accessible prices is brass under a microscopically thin flash of gold. Brass is a copper alloy, and copper reacts with the acids on your skin and the oxygen in the air. It oxidizes. That green mark is the reaction.
Once the gold flash wears through — which takes weeks of ordinary wear, not years — there is nothing left between the copper and your skin.
Sterling silver does not do this. It can tarnish over time, which is a darkening rather than a stain, and tarnish polishes off completely.
How to care for your piece
- Take it off before swimming, showering and sleeping
- Apply perfume, lotion and hairspray before putting jewelry on, not after
- Store it dry and separate — the pouch it arrived in is there for this
- Polish with the cloth included in your order
- Never use chemical silver dip on gold-finished pieces. It strips the gold.
About tarnish
Silver reacts with sulphur in the air and darkens gradually. This is normal, it is not damage, and it comes off. A gentle rub with your polishing cloth restores it. If a piece ever tarnishes in a way polishing will not fix, contact us.
Lab grown stones
The stones in our pieces are lab grown. They are chemically and optically identical to mined stones, they are graded the same way, and they cost a fraction of the price. The difference is origin, not quality.