Jewelry Care Guide

It is important to have your more valuable pieces of jewelry and especially pieces that are worn on a daily basis checked and cleaned by your local jeweler at least once a year.  We will examine each item under magnification to check for any loose, chipped, or broken stones, bent or worn prongs, and cracks in the setting. If no repairs are needed, we will then ultra-sonic and steam clean your jewelry items.

 

The best method to cleaning your jewelry at home is to use a cleaner recommended by your local jeweler. We recommend three different types to safely clean your items:

 

Regular Jewelry Cleaner- This is safe to use on all your platinum, gold, stainless steel, and titanium jewelry.  This is what we also recommend to use to clean diamonds and most of your precious gems. Avoid using this cleaner to clean emeralds, turquoise, pearls, opals, coral, ivory, and any other stone that is porous or has the possibility of being dyed. Please ask your jeweler if you have any questions or concerns about a specific piece of jewelry. This cleaner can be used as much as you want and the more often it is used the easier and quicker your items will come clean. For most cases a 15 to 20 minute soak will be all you need. It comes with a little brush that can be used to help remove stubborn dirt and debris. Rinse under warm tap water and pat dry. Follow up with a polishing cloth to shine the metal as needed.

Silver Cleaner- This is what we recommend to remove tarnish on silver and gold jewelry.  With this cleaner you do not want to soak the items. Dip your pieces in the cleaner for 15 seconds and the tarnish should vanish right before your eyes. Rinse with warm water and pat dry with a clean cloth. In many cases it might be necessary to hand polish the piece with a polishing cloth to help remove any tarnish that is still present. Do not leave your items in this cleaner for too long. It will turn your silver black, therefore needing professional cleaning. 15 seconds is all you need. If tarnish still is present after dipping and hand buffing you will need to bring it to your local jeweler to have it cleaned by other methods.

 

Pearl Cleaner- With this cleaner we recommend to use it with all of your pearl jewelry as well as any other jewelry with gems not recommended with our regular cleaner. Keep in mind most pearl earrings and rings have the pearls epoxied into their setting and extended periods of soaking will compromise the epoxies bond, causing it to fail.  With earrings and rings, soak them for no longer than 5 minutes and with strands of pearl necklaces and bracelets, 15 minutes will be all you need. Rinse with warm water and pat dry with a clean cloth.

Jewelry should be the last part of your outfit you put on and the first part of your outfit you take off. We all love our jewelry and would like to wear it as much as possible, but there are a few things you should try to avoid to help prolong the life of all your precious gems.

Take off your jewelry when exercising, doing dishes, cleaning, or any physical activity that will put your items in harm’s way. Platinum, gold, and silver are soft pliable metals and are easily bent when knocked against a harder surface like steel, glass, granite, tile or cement. Gem stones and even diamonds will break or crack when exposed to a heavy blow. Try to limit your jewelry to these types of exposures and you will greatly extend the life of your piece.

 

Make sure all your items are custom fit for you. A ring that is too large will spin throughout the day causing excessive wear on prongs and exposing diamonds and gemstones to unnecessary blows which can scratch, break, or chip them. Chains and bracelets that are too large will tend to catch on more items causing them to break or stretch out.

Pearls, tanzanite, emeralds, and opals are not gems that hold up well to the wear from everyday use. These gems are not as hard or as tough as many other gems and the wear and tear they receive from wearing them daily will leave deep abrasions or break the stone entirely. These items should be worn on special occasions if you wish to be able to enjoy them for a lifetime.

 

Watches are not water proof. Most are not even water resistant. Over time gaskets and seals break down or get pinched, the backs do not get installed properly while the battery is getting changed, or the crown could be left out, which in all cases gives water a chance to enter the watch. Even if the watch says it is water resistant up to 100 meters, I wouldn’t trust it. If you like your watch and want years of enjoyment out of it you should avoid exposing it to water the best you can.  If your watch is a divers model with a screw down crown, it should be water tested to the desired depth before use. Never take a shower with your watch. Steam is much finer than water and harder to keep out. If the watch does say it is water resistant you should be fine with washing your hands or getting caught in the rain, but make sure to ask your jeweler to examine the gaskets as best as possible during every battery change. Most dress watches, gold or not, have no water resistance to them at all and should not be exposed to water even while washing your hands.

 

Never swim in chlorine pools or use any types of cleaners while wearing your jewelry.  Chlorine is one of the most damaging chemicals gold jewelry can come in contact with and the most common we see in everyday life. Chlorine does not affect gold, but it affects the bond between the gold and the other metals that are mixed to create the desired alloy of 10kt, 14kt, 18kt, etc. For example, a 14kt white gold ring is 58.5% gold and the remaining 41.5% could be a mixture of nickel, silver, copper, and zinc. When exposed to chlorine, the bond between the different metals breaks down causing the item to become extremely brittle.  Shanks will break easier, prongs will crack and break, and the overall framework of the jewelry items breaks down making the piece unwearable. This process cannot be reversed once it has happened. Anywhere there has been stress applied to the metal or where there is a solder joint there is a greater chance of it being exposed to this chemical damage. The most common areas this affects is where the prong is bent to secure the stones, sides of the shank, base of the head, or bottom of the shank where it has been soldered. Spas and public pools are the worst due to their elevated levels of chlorine. Many household cleaners have chlorine bleach hidden in them as well. It does not take long for the chemical damage to take effect. We had a customer lose her bracelet in a public spa and could not retrieve it until the next day because it was caught in the filter. By the time she got it back, the damage had been done. The bracelet would literally crumble in your hands. Platinum items are the only jewelry unaffected by chlorine damage, but to be safe we recommend removing all jewelry when you are around chlorine and other household chemicals.