Jewelry Care Advice
Proper care for your jewelry is certain to prolong life of your beloved pieces and keep them looking good for years. Just follow the advice below:
1. Jewelry is something you put on last (after perfume) and take off first (as soon as you‘re back in your room).
2. When you are not wearing it, keep your jewelry in their personal boxes/pouches or in a special lined jewelry box with individual inserts. Rings, earrings, brooches and necklaces should not be kept in one large bag or box and rub against each other.
3. Try not to do hardcore cooking, cleanning, gardening or sports with your rings on.
4. Try not to wear jewelry in the pool or while diving, it can easily slip off and get lost in sand.
2. When you are not wearing it, keep your jewelry in their personal boxes/pouches or in a special lined jewelry box with individual inserts. Rings, earrings, brooches and necklaces should not be kept in one large bag or box and rub against each other.
3. Try not to do hardcore cooking, cleanning, gardening or sports with your rings on.
4. Try not to wear jewelry in the pool or while diving, it can easily slip off and get lost in sand.
Despite the fact that contemporary silver alloys are tarnish-resistant, it is still one of the most sensitive metals that react to moist air or skin greese. If you have a lot of silver items, it is advisable to acquire special polishing cloths or baths for silver that you can use at home from time to time to take good care of your silver jewels.
At home, use a soft toothbrush and water/dishwashing liquid solution to polish it from time to time and clean any residue off set gems.
The same soft toothbrush/dishwashing liquid solution will work. However, a visit to a professional jeweller or goldsmith who has special polishing compounds for platinum would be a nice treat. Once every two years should be enough.
Very often, jewelry made of silver or white gold is plated with a precious metal called Rhodium to make the surface brighter and a bit more resistant to scratches. Rhodium plated pendants and earrings don‘t suffer as much scratching as rings do. This thin Rhodium layer tends to come off over time. In case you want to renew it, contacts a local goldsmith with good reputation to re-plate the piece.
Examine the loop occassionally. Over time, soft metals like silver or gold tend to wear due to constant rubbing against the chain. The loop might become too thin and break. If you can see any sign of damage, just take it to a local goldsmith with good reputation to fix it.
1. Use a soft toothbrush and water/dish-washing liquid solution to clean gems. After that, rinse the piece with clean water (in a bowl), dry it with a paper-towel or using a hair-dryer. Also, you can wipe gems with soft leather velour cloth – this will clean the surface of gems and make them shiny again.
2. Jewelry with certain gemstones should not be stored in a place exposed to extended sunlight. This might cause a change in color in amethysts, rose and smokey quartz, citrine, aquamarine, beryl, kunzite, aventurine, praseolyth, amber, coral, mammoth and walrus tusks.
3. Avoid dropping your jewelry with gemstones in it on hard surfaces – this might cause chips off or cracks inside gemstones.
4. Do not wear jewelry with gemstones to saunas or steam baths. Apart from the fact that you can easily get skin burn due to metal parts warming up, gemstones might change their color due to high temperature.
2. Jewelry with certain gemstones should not be stored in a place exposed to extended sunlight. This might cause a change in color in amethysts, rose and smokey quartz, citrine, aquamarine, beryl, kunzite, aventurine, praseolyth, amber, coral, mammoth and walrus tusks.
3. Avoid dropping your jewelry with gemstones in it on hard surfaces – this might cause chips off or cracks inside gemstones.
4. Do not wear jewelry with gemstones to saunas or steam baths. Apart from the fact that you can easily get skin burn due to metal parts warming up, gemstones might change their color due to high temperature.
The hardest substance on Earth – pure carbon turned into the most amazing gem by extreme heat and pressure. A few things to remember in order to enjoy your diamonds forever:
1. Never heat your diamonds – you will burn them, they will turn carbon again.
2. Try not to drop you jewelry with diamonds in it. It is hard to cut diamonds, but easy to crack them under certain angles.
3. If you purchased jewelry with black diamonds, avoid washing this jewelry in ultrasound bath. Sometimes, black diamonds are treated to visually hide cracks in visible parts of the stone. Ultrasound might open the pores and the cracks become visible due to a change in their color.
4. In all other respects – diamonds are the most durable and easy-to-care-for gemstones.
1. Never heat your diamonds – you will burn them, they will turn carbon again.
2. Try not to drop you jewelry with diamonds in it. It is hard to cut diamonds, but easy to crack them under certain angles.
3. If you purchased jewelry with black diamonds, avoid washing this jewelry in ultrasound bath. Sometimes, black diamonds are treated to visually hide cracks in visible parts of the stone. Ultrasound might open the pores and the cracks become visible due to a change in their color.
4. In all other respects – diamonds are the most durable and easy-to-care-for gemstones.
We borrowed this great emerald care advice from F.P. Schindler – Germany-based highly trusted emerald experts. Follow their advice, and your emeralds will fascinate you for years and years to come.
1. Emeralds are softer than diamonds which takes us to rule Nr. 1 – imagine your emeralds as a special dress or a very valuable painting, avoid treating them roughly.
2. Don’t ever clean your emerald jewelry using ultrasonic bath. Natural emeralds usually have many internal cavities that make them unique and, sometimes, even recognizable, and ultrasound can either make those cavities larger, or even cause cracking of the stone.
3. Clean your emerald jewelry by soaking it for 10 minutes in lukewarm water mixed with a few drops of dish-washing liquid. You can use a soft toothbrush to clean hard-to-get corners of your jewelry piece. Wipe it with a soft paper-tissue.
4. Oil your emerald – oiling has been used for centuries as an accepted and even encouraged treatment of emeralds. After you have cleaned your emerald jewelry, oil it. You can use either Ballistol universal oil, or any other oil, used by watchmakers. Drip a few drops to the front and the back of the stone and leave it for a couple of days close to a source of warmth, such as a heating radiator or a night lamp. After that, wipe the stone with a soft cotton towel and see the come-back of the greenfire the emeralds are valued for!
5. Good oiling vs bad oiling – please note, oiling with transparent oils is acceptable practice. However, using coloured oils, glass or plastic glue is not accepted and should always be disclosed. To make sure you get natural and good-oiled emeralds, buy your emerald jewelry only from trusted retailers. Remember, good oiling is like polishing your shoes once in a while. Bad oiling – is bad.
1. Emeralds are softer than diamonds which takes us to rule Nr. 1 – imagine your emeralds as a special dress or a very valuable painting, avoid treating them roughly.
2. Don’t ever clean your emerald jewelry using ultrasonic bath. Natural emeralds usually have many internal cavities that make them unique and, sometimes, even recognizable, and ultrasound can either make those cavities larger, or even cause cracking of the stone.
3. Clean your emerald jewelry by soaking it for 10 minutes in lukewarm water mixed with a few drops of dish-washing liquid. You can use a soft toothbrush to clean hard-to-get corners of your jewelry piece. Wipe it with a soft paper-tissue.
4. Oil your emerald – oiling has been used for centuries as an accepted and even encouraged treatment of emeralds. After you have cleaned your emerald jewelry, oil it. You can use either Ballistol universal oil, or any other oil, used by watchmakers. Drip a few drops to the front and the back of the stone and leave it for a couple of days close to a source of warmth, such as a heating radiator or a night lamp. After that, wipe the stone with a soft cotton towel and see the come-back of the greenfire the emeralds are valued for!
5. Good oiling vs bad oiling – please note, oiling with transparent oils is acceptable practice. However, using coloured oils, glass or plastic glue is not accepted and should always be disclosed. To make sure you get natural and good-oiled emeralds, buy your emerald jewelry only from trusted retailers. Remember, good oiling is like polishing your shoes once in a while. Bad oiling – is bad.
1. When not wearing, keep you jewelry with opals, corals, mammoth or walrus tusks in their soft fabric pouch to avoid scratching or overexposure to sunlight.
2. If you own a doublet or triplet opal, do not soak it in water. Clean it with soft leather cloth.
3. If you have a solid opal, wipe it with soft cloth soaked in warm water and dry it with another soft cloth. The same applies to corals, mammoth and walrus tusks.
4. Do not immerse any of these materials in ultrasound bath – this might have a negative impact on their structure and visual characteristics.
5. Some opals require to be kept in water in order not to crack over time. In case any of these are presented in our shop, a note will accompany the item‘s description.
2. If you own a doublet or triplet opal, do not soak it in water. Clean it with soft leather cloth.
3. If you have a solid opal, wipe it with soft cloth soaked in warm water and dry it with another soft cloth. The same applies to corals, mammoth and walrus tusks.
4. Do not immerse any of these materials in ultrasound bath – this might have a negative impact on their structure and visual characteristics.
5. Some opals require to be kept in water in order not to crack over time. In case any of these are presented in our shop, a note will accompany the item‘s description.
Pearls are organic, thus they, just like us, need a few things:
1. Clean environment – once you put on pearls, do not put on body lotions, creams, sun block, perfume or alike – all these chemical substances can negatively affect the pearls‘ nacre and, consequently, their luster. Truly, pearls are put on last and taken off first!
2. Air – do not keep pearls in air-tight plastic bags, this will make pearls look dull.
3. Water – after each wearing, or at least from time to time, wipe you pearls with soft cloth soaked in warm clean water. Dry them naturally (not under direct sunlight) and when dried, store in a soft pouch that comes together with pearl jewelry or in a personal compartment of a lined jewelry box.
4. Caring handling – keep your pearls in their personal soft pouch or a lined compartment in a jewelry box when not wearing. Pearls‘ nacre layer is easy to scratch with metal rings or earring closures.
5. Restringing – good quality pearl necklaces and bracelets are usually strung on silk or high quality synthetic threads with knots between pearls to guard them from rubbing against each other. With time, threads lose their elasticity and turn greyish. It is advisable to re-string the necklace or bracelet every few years. Find a local goldsmith with good reputation who will do it for you.
1. Clean environment – once you put on pearls, do not put on body lotions, creams, sun block, perfume or alike – all these chemical substances can negatively affect the pearls‘ nacre and, consequently, their luster. Truly, pearls are put on last and taken off first!
2. Air – do not keep pearls in air-tight plastic bags, this will make pearls look dull.
3. Water – after each wearing, or at least from time to time, wipe you pearls with soft cloth soaked in warm clean water. Dry them naturally (not under direct sunlight) and when dried, store in a soft pouch that comes together with pearl jewelry or in a personal compartment of a lined jewelry box.
4. Caring handling – keep your pearls in their personal soft pouch or a lined compartment in a jewelry box when not wearing. Pearls‘ nacre layer is easy to scratch with metal rings or earring closures.
5. Restringing – good quality pearl necklaces and bracelets are usually strung on silk or high quality synthetic threads with knots between pearls to guard them from rubbing against each other. With time, threads lose their elasticity and turn greyish. It is advisable to re-string the necklace or bracelet every few years. Find a local goldsmith with good reputation who will do it for you.