JEWELRY CARE

Jewelry requires gentle care to ensure its everlasting beauty. That is why we recommend that you take your jewelry to a local jeweler and use a professional to help clean your fine jewelry. However, there are a few care and cleaning suggestions that you can use to make certain that your jewelry keeps its sparkle and shine.

♥ How to Clean Your Jewelry at Home

After a reasonable amount of time passes while wearing your ring, dirt, makeup and other substances can build up on the surface of your jewelry. The effect takes away from its natural beauty and dulls the shine and luster of your gold. Generally, most jewelry can be cleaned with a mild liquid detergent mixed with warm water. Please note though, some exceptions including pearls, emeralds and opal should AVOID being submerged in water, as water can damage this type of jewelry over time. It is also important to clean your jewelry with a soft brush, like a soft tooth brush, to prevent any scratches, and it is a good idea to separately wash and store your jewelry to avoid nicks and scrapes.

♥ Basic Care

Here are some basic jewelry care tips and recommendations for cleaning and storing your jewelry. This list is not all-inclusive and only provides warnings for some of the most common improper practices used to clean jewelry.

To care for your jewelry and keep it clean and ready to wear, gently wipe off excess make-up and skin oils after each wearing. Use a nub free, 100% cotton cloth and gently wipe the piece clean using only the soft pads of your fingers. Be sure to store your jewelry in jeweler's tissue or a soft bag in between wear and wash.

To help retard tarnish on sterling silver, wrap the piece in jeweler's tissue paper and place it inside a plastic zip lock bag and seal.

When cleaning sterling silver remember that it is a very soft metal and can easily be marred by a fingernail or wadded piece of fabric pushed roughly against the metal surface. For this reason, use one of the following methods to clean heavier soils and tarnish:

To remove fingerprints, light grease or dirt, add a small amount of mild liquid soap to a half cup of warm water, soak 2-3 minutes, rinse thoroughly with clean water and dry completely before storing in an air tight plastic bag.

Be very careful when using any soaking method to clean jewelry that has soft stones such as amber, lapis lazuli, or turquoise. Extended soaking in any solution may harm the polish on the stone. Never use chlorine bleach to clean jewelry.

To remove excessive tarnish, polish with a 100% cotton cloth and a good nonabrasive metal cleaner. Be sure to remove any remnants of the cleaner from gemstones and rinse thoroughly with clean water. Never use toothpaste!