To Plate or Not to Plate??

Classic Charms — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:45:39 +0000

Recently I had a customer come into our store looking for a sterling silver charm bracelet to add all the years of memories she had collected. A charm for each memory, each place she traveled, her children, grand children and all the moments in between. I, of course showed her our huge inventory of bracelets. She asked me a question I had never (in all my years in this wonderful business) been asked before. She asked: “Why are they all so shiney and bright looking? Don’t silver bracelets have an old fashioned, tarnished look to them anymore?” I chuckled a bit and explained to her that vendors have learned alot over the years about manufacturing silver charms and bracelets. Years ago, vendors just made silver charm in the standard .925 metals. Now vendors have realized women do not want to spend all their time cleaning and polishing their charms and bracelets anymore. So now most all vendors put a Rhodium Plating on top of .925 silver, so it will never tarnish and always have that “shiney and new” look to it, even 10 years down the road. She was concerned that her charms would look “old” while her bracelet would look new and it would not belong together. One simple phone call we made to our favorite vendor, Rembrandt Charms and we learned that upon special request they will NOT Rhodium Plate a silver item upon request. So the lesson here is – no matter what you are looking for, whether its the old fashioned silver charm bracelet or a charm or two to add to your bracelet, we have them all, and we go that extra step to make sure you get exactly the charm or bracelet of your dreams!

Charming Memoirs » Special Requests

To Plate or Not to Plate??