With summer comes sunscreen, sea water and sweat. Wouldn't it be nice to never worry about the shine of your jewellery involving any of these and more? To always wear it, be it shower or ocean, gym or bed? To never get those pesky care instructions that tell you how to look after your jewellery?
These pearl earrings for example are just perfect on that Italy trip, sitting in a restaurant sipping wine in the mild breeze. Who wants to think about waterproofs right then?!
Waterproof, water-resistant, tarnish-free
2025 seemed to have brought this utopian dream, with tarnish-free and water-resistant jewellery being advertised left, right and centre (or is it just my algorithm)...
When people see my jewellery, the first question usually is 'What material is it made from?' (answer usually: brass!), followed by 'Oh.. Will it not tarnish?'.. And I get it. It sounds like work, doesn't it. However, there is a reason byMaraca jewellery is neither 'tarnish-free' nor 'water-resistant'.
This is different from waterproof. Of course it is waterproof. What I mean is, it won't literally melt away in water. Water-resistant is what many people equal with tarnish-free: Jewellery that doesn't change its colour over time.
To be up front: byMaraca jewellery WILL tarnish - with good reason, though, so hear me out.
What is tarnish?
Any solid metal will tarnish, whether that's brass, silver or gold, copper, steel or platinum. Yes, some might tarnish more slowly, but trust me, they all will, especially under the right conditions.
This is just basic chemistry and metals reacting with the oxygen in the air, helped along by components that are floating around (or H2O, you know, water). It's oxidisation (or oxidation if you're speaking American English) and causes the metal to darken and dull. Silver can go all the way to black, gold and brass tend to just become a little brown, bronze can form a green patina, etc.
These hoops for example are shiny and freshly polished, however when wearing them, they will become slightly dull - but I promise they won't lose their style!
So - tarnish-free is the solution, yes?
The only way to achieve tarnish-free and water-resistant pieces is to coat and/or plate them, and most tarnish-free and water-resistant jewellery is neither tarnish-free nor water-resistant once the coating has worn off and the (base) metal underneath is uncovered.
A very famous high-street jewellery business (not naming names but their charm bracelets are pretty damn famous) has even gone so far as to sell their jewellery as 'platinum jewellery'.
Great news in the beginning: Platinum tarnishes fairly slowly so they might fool people into thinking they have just invested in perfect tarnish-free platinum jewellery. Expensive, but you know the results speak for themselves. Well. They do, or they will.
All they really sell is a very thin platinum coating on a base metal, I assume copper. That means, once the coating wears off, and it will eventually, maybe in weeks, maybe months, maybe years if you're lucky, you'll have that nice copper colour shine through. Not exactly the 'platinum jewellery' that was advertised, eh? Shame they will just get away with it. Small business are under much more scrutiny here, but that's not the topic right now!
So what does this silversmith do?
I choose to work with solid metals as it is much quicker and more sustainable to polish a piece back to shine than have plating flake or rub off and ruin the piece of jewellery potentially forever, sometimes even leaving sharp edges.
My only exception? Fine chains. Any golden-coloured fine chains that support my handmade pendants are 18ct gold-plated 925 Sterling silver, and I fully appreciate and tell people that the plating might wear off over time, hence my recommendation to never wear them in the shower or when working up a sweat. Event then, as they are so fine, there is no flaking but rather a subtle change in colour that will not ruin the overall picture. This comes after talking to my customers, and the majority requested 18ct gold-plated over full brass necklaces.
Let's take these double pearl earrings: They are FULLY made from brass. No plating, which means whenever you give them a little polish, they will return exactly to what they look like in the pictures.
And when you don't? Well...
Where does that leave us?
While the promise of tarnish-free and water-resistant jewellery seems great in the moment, once the effect wears off, your jewellery might not be fit for purpose. Solid materials and a quick polish are the only long-lasting solution.
Tarnished jewellery is very easy to bring back to a shiny life by using the polishing pad you will receive with any direct purchase, or by using Brasso. I have a page dedicated to care instructions to help you look after your jewellery.
If you DO want easy to look-after, affordable jewellery, here's a hot tip, though...
Bronze. Bronze tarnishes quickly when not worn, it might even get the green-ish patina you might know from church roofs. However, it kind of has a self-polishing effect when being worn, especially as a necklace. I'm not entirely sure why it works for bronze and not brass, but having worn my bronze pretzel necklace for about 6 months every single day, I can report it does seem to work..
As a last thought...
Yes, brass tarnishes. Any metal will. But you know what, that can also be a really cool thing - they look a bit antique-y? Even better. This ring got a life, this necklace got a story, these earrings need care (just like you and your plants), but in return they keep you grounded and connected.
Not everything always needs to be new and shiny. You're allowed possessions that show you carry them not just while they're trendy but as part of a choice, and that also means you care for them.
