I bet you didn't realise.....
People loose more jewellery when in water than any other activity….closely followed by gardening and cold weather walking. Here are some care tips and facts you need to know!
How do I care for my jewellery?
It is recommended that you remove your jewellery when bathing, showering, sleeping, cleaning, gardening, biking, cleaning or doing any rough manual tasks. There are more scenarios use your judgement!
Sleeping in any type of necklace wears the links thin and can damage chain and clasps. Necklaces are not designed to bear the weight of your head (10lbs) pressing it into fabric and grinding away as you toss and turn for 8 hours every single day. Take your necklaces off or you will risk loosing it whilst wearing it!
Use warm soapy water and a soft toothbrush followed by a soft cloth to clean most jewellery. A proprietary cleaning cloth also works well at removing tarnish and maintaining shiny surface if need be.
Use homecare ultrasonic carefully. Many gemstones will not tolerate ultrasonic and can be badly damaged. You can use your ultrasonic toothbrush and old head if you don’t have a tank.
Don’t knead dough, apply lotion or sunscreen etc while wearing gemstone rings. It blocks up the spaces behind settings and attracts dirt which can abrade the surface of a gem.
Do remove your jewellery before spraying perfume or applying lotion.
Do keep pearls in soft cloth while not being worn and away from other jewellery that can scratch the nacre.
Opals are very fragile and can have up to 30% water content. They do not like to get very hot or cold or overly exposed to liquids. They need special care and attention when cleaning.
Claws aka prong settings will abrade away and loosen with wear over time. This is normal and to be expected. Learning how to clean and examine your jewellery with a loupe is useful. If in doubt please get in touch and schedule a jewellery check up. You may need a tightening of settings or claw replacement to avoid loosing a stone or damaging a mount. Any good jewellery store should be able to do this for you but you can learn to do this yourself.
Chemicals, lotions and perfumes may cause discolouration of some metals and can cause damage to some gemstones and cultured or natural pearls.
You can buy tarnish free bags or strips to keep your jewellery looking spotless while not wearing it so the next time you pull it out it will be ready yo wear.
Why has my jewellery tarnished?
Some metals such as sterling silver and certain carat golds can tarnish over time and is normal. Tarnishing can happen faster in certain environments and some people have a body chemistry that causes faster reactions. Tarnish is the result of a chemical reaction usually oxidation. A natural hotspring rich in sulfur will turn silver black fast! Some antibotics and medications can also cause issues for some. Any a lucky few have a PH that makes the jewellery react to the wearers sweat.
Spas, swimming pools, house hold cleaning products and hand gels are often culprits for damage to claws and can make some links and rings shanks brittle- even resulting in breaks! Chlorine in pools can really badly damage cast jewellery because it can be pitted from the manufacturing process and more easily react to chemicals. Repeated exposure makes it weaker so the next blow on that countertop might just fracture it. Most jewellery is cast both fashion and fine jewellery. Hand fabricated is harder wearing.
Silverwear
I would encourage you to make sure you know if polishing your silver or other treasures up to a high shine will be the right choice. Repeated polishing even with a soft cloth and creams could abrade away metal so make sure you are not causing damage if it is of signifigant historic or monetary value. Once polished try using this to seal the surface.
