I own tons of sterling silver jewelry, so I know you must be mad. There are cleaning products for silver jewelry, and they work well, unless you have any kind of gemstones on your necklace that can't be removed, in which case be careful b/c the cleaner can damage the stones. My personal fav is toothpaste. I know it sounds crazy, but that's what I clean all my jewelry with and it's safe for gemstones as well. Best of luck!