Caring for Your Jewelry

Always remove jewelry before doing manual labor and when coming into contact with chlorine especially in common household cleaners.

CLEANING YOUR JEWELRY AT HOME

·       Prepare a small bowl of warm sudsy water with a mild liquid detergent such as Dawn.

·       Soak for 20 minutes

·       Gently brush the jewelry with a soft toothbrush while still in the suds. 

·       Rinse each piece under warm running water with the drain closed.

·       Pat dry with a soft lint-free cloth or commercial polishing cloth such as a Sunshine® Cloth.

Beware of ultrasonic cleaners. The vibrations can cause stones to become loose and/or fall out.  NEVER clean these stones in an ultrasonic cleaner  - Opals, Pearls, Emeralds, Tanzanite, Tourmaline, Peridot, Malachite, Onyx, Turquoise, Jade, Amber, Lapis, Mother of Pearl, Coral, Diamonds with lots of inclusions, Colored Diamonds, Malachite or Synthetic stones.  Carefully follow the manufacturer’s directions.

When not wearing, keep jewelry in a cool dry place and store each piece separately to prevent scratches.

Check settings periodically (at least once per year) professionally for any damage to prongs or bezels.  Contact me or bring the piece to a professional jeweler for repair immediately if the setting looks out of alignment, prongs are loose OR a stone moves within a mounting.

Check settings yourself by holding the jewelry up to your EAR and tapping very gently with your fingernail on the shank of the ring (the band part) or base of pendant. Tap in an area that has no stones. If anything is loose, you will hear a buzzing sound instead of a solid sound. It is possible that a bezel set stone may be secure but still make a noise.

Sterling Silver - Store in an airtight zip lock bag to prevent tarnish. Clean with a commercial polishing cloth.  Do not use a commercial cleaner or polishing cloth on oxidized finishes because doing so will remove the surface treatment.

White Gold - Rhodium plating is often used as a finish on white gold for extra brightness because plain “white gold” is really grayish/yellow in color. The plating may wear away if the item is worn regularly and is in contact with other hard surfaces. Consequently rings and bracelets will occasionally require re-plating; earrings and necklaces will rarely need re-plating. Having a white gold ring re-polished can result in removing the plating.

Pearls - Wipe pearls with a soft, lint-free cloth as soon as you take them off.  Pearls should be re-strung every few years, depending on how frequently they are worn.