Sterling Essentials Antique Design Sterling Silver CZ Ring

I am an avid and experienced fashion jewelry collector (both gold and silver). I bought this ring last year and have not been disappointed. "O" always does a great job with their photo examples, which made me confident to purchase the item. The only mistake I made was to forget that when buying a wide ring to buy a size up (generally a half size is sufficient). There are some days, particularly warm days, when I cannot wear this ring. The style and craftsmanship are excellent. The CZs are not quite as sparkly as I would hope, but this tends to be a common problem with CZs ¿ they either look fake because they sparkle too much, or they aren't cut as well as they should be and appear a bit dull. Given the vintage styling, I would prefer a more subdued look, which this ring offers. One of the other reviews suggested that the ring is plated. There's an easy way to check. The inside of the band on a sterling silver ring should read .925 (you may need a magnifying glass to read it). One reason why sterling silver sometimes tarnishes badly and won't cleanup is due to rhodium plating ¿ or rather the fact that the rhodium finish has deteriorated. It's not that the silver isn't real silver; rather some manufacturers, to give a silver ring the look of platinum or to ostensibly prevent tarnishing, will plate silver rings with rhodium. That's the only thing I fault "O" for ¿ their descriptions don't indicate consistently whether or not an anti-tarnish treatment of this nature has been applied. Rhodium is a type of platinum and as long as it remains intact you won¿t see tarnishing and the ring will be unusually white and shiny (like white gold or new platinum). Unfortunately, once it wears off the silver underneath tends to look black or dull. For this reason I don't care for anti-tarnish plating. As for whether this particular ring is rhodium plated, I cannot say for certain. All I know is that with occasional use over the past year it has remained as good as new. If you don't plan to wear rings like this daily, or at least remove them when working with chemical cleaners ¿ as with any jewelry ¿ you should enjoy many years and many compliments with respect to this ring. If, like a previous reviewer, the ring tarnishes and won¿t shine up, you might be able to find a jeweler who will plate the ring with rhodium (might be expensive, however). Overall, I would say this is a fantastic price for a tasteful, stylish ring. Treat yourself!