How to Take Care of Your Jewelry

You love your jewelry and you want to ensure that it lasts a long time. Here’s some helpful information to make sure it does!

Do bring your jewelry in for a professional spa treatment every 6 months. At home cleanings just don’t give your jewelry the same shine as a professional cleaning. During the spa treatment, we will inspect your jewelry for loose or missing stones

Do have your stones professionally inspected every 6 months to make sure they are secure. Everyday wear and tear on your jewelry is inevitable. Prongs are especially susceptible to getting bumped or caught on objects or clothing compromising the security of your precious stones. If you feel or see a loose stone, you should bring the piece to your jeweler for repair.

Do use a damp microfiber cloth to clean pearls and leather, as they are organic products and need more delicate care than harder metals. Do not let pearls come in contact with cosmetics, creams, perfumes, hairspray or other chemicals as they will discolor the pearls.

Do place your jewelry in the same place each and every time your remove it, and you will never lose it. Be sure to keep it out of direct sunlight.

Do use Windex to remove your rings if they are too tight. If this happens often, they should be resized.

Do enjoy wearing your jewelry often. Pearls and diamonds aren’t just for special occasions. They look great with jeans too.

Don’t use chemicals and abrasives to clean your jewelry. Toothpaste, baking soda or other abrasives are not jewelry friendly and will scratch your jewelry.

Don’t boil your jewelry in water. The outcome is not pretty especially if you forget about it and let the water evaporate. We’ve seen this happen!

Don’t place multiple pieces of jewelry together in the cleaning solution as they can scratch each other.

Don’t wear your jewelry to bed. You will save a lot of money on repairing it! Also, swelling is very common during sleep, and could cause discomfort and make it

List of Porous Gemstones Not to be Placed into any Cleaner

Amber, Coral, Emerald*, Howlite, Onyx, Opal, Pearl, Turquoise

* We will clean emeralds only purchased from us because we know they are not filled. Oftentimes, companies fill flaws with oil to improve their color, and cleaning them can release the oil and destroy their beautiful color.

General Precautions

Your jewelry may be sentimental, expensive or steeped in family history. If you lost any of your pieces or if they were damaged, odds are you’d be heartbroken. You can avoid many scenarios of costly jewelry repair if you learn when it’s safe to wear it, and when to take it off.

Here are some general guidelines when to remove your jewelry:

Before you clean the house, and/or wash dishes. Like chlorine, bleach eats away at precious metals. Even gentle household cleaners and body soaps can be harmful to your gemstones. If you don’t want to take them off each time, invest in a pair of rubber gloves.

Before you use hairspray, perfume, body lotions and other products.

Before you work out. You can damage your rings by gripping them against heavy weights or machine handles. Your circulation also changes when you’re working out, making rings feel tight and uncomfortable. Spare your jewelry the sweat and remove it before your workouts.

Before you swim. Cold water shrinks your fingers, and because of this, many rings have been lost in the ocean. The chlorine in a pool eats away at precious metals and the heat of a hot tub amplifies this. So be safe rather than sorry and take them off!

Before you do home improvement projects. This is especially true when you’re wielding hammers and power tools. Paint, glue, spackle and other building materials can be tough to remove from gems and chains.

While caring for and playing with small children. Have you ever had an infant grab onto your dangling earring or sparkly chain? Don’t put your jewelry in jeopardy, take it off!

With regular cleaning and general precautions, your jewelry will look fabulous and stay safe for a very long time!