Caring For Your Jewellery
Your guide to keeping your silver jewellery looking beautiful for years to come. Advice on cleaning gemstones and what to use. Advice on caring for softer gemstones. How to store your silver jewellery.
How To Clean Your Jewellery
Over a period of time, all silver tarnishes. The rate at which this happens varies on condition and locations. This is because it naturally reacts to the hydrogen sulphides in the air, however given long enough it can tarnish by oxygen too. Tarnishing causes the lustre of the metal to dull by producing a thin dull, often grey or black film on the surface of then metal. To get a little more technical tarnish is self-limiting. Meaning only the top layers of the metal are effected.
Thankfully this can generally be removed with some ease. Keep in mind that heavily tarnished pieces may be a little more stubborn. We would recommend a simple silver selvyt to gently rub the surface of the silver until the tarnish is removed. We recommend to exercise caution around claw settings as not to disturb any gemstone settings. You can use cleaning solutions, but these tend not to be very eco-friendly and comes with a number of risks. If you do use the solution always be aware that a lot gemstones are not suitable for dipping. Plated silver, enamel, painted and dyed materials can also be effected by solution.
For cleaning behind the stones and around the settings we recommend using an old toothbrush that has softened, with a little fairy liquid. The de-greaser should help remove any build up.
How To Keep Your Jewellery Clean
Silver, gold, platinum and other precious metals are soft metals. Through wear and tear the surfaces will scratch when worn, dent when knocked and dull the surface lustre. We often get asked how long this takes to happen. But this is dependant entirely on the work and lifestyle of the wearer. The good news is that most of the time it simply take a good polish to bring it back to looking new. Bearing in mind that each time this is done it take away a small layer of material, so if you have a thin band we would recommend being sparing.
We can however offer the following tips on how to preserve your jewellery as best possible:
If you have a manual job or are participating in laborious activity, which your jewellery is likely to have your jewellery come into contact with surfaces, it may be better to store it safely until you are finished.
Try to avoid swimming with your jewellery on. Most pools use harsh chemicals that will react with the surfaces of precious metals. Keep your jewellery away from household cleaning products for the same reasoning.
If you are planning on wearing a jewellery on an evening, make sure its the last thing you put on, after your perfumes. Acids from some perfumes can effect softer gemstones like ambers and pearls by corroding their surfaces.
Hand cream is the enemy of the gemstone. I know ladies love soft hands (not an option for jewellers I am afraid, ours are tough as old boots!), but hand cream has a habit of getting behind stones and blocking all the light. Leaving beautiful bright gems looking dull. So try to take off your jewellery when applying your hand cream and wait for your hands to dry out a bit before putting your rings back on.
How To Store Your Jewellery
The importance of storage. We recommend that you keep your jewellery separate so as not to scratch one another. With our items we provide jute bags that would be perfect for doing this. Then if possible store your jewellery in as air tight a space as possible. A good jewellery box should do the trick. But if you do not have one a tupperware box will do fine. The idea is to limit the amount of air that your jewellery is exposed to. This will help prevent tarnishing. Try to keep the box away from locations of humidity, such as right next to a window or radiator.
Lastly wear your jewellery! This might sound a bit strange, but your skin being in contact with the silver will help keep it looking bright. This is due to the pH level of your skin. Acids will naturally clean the silver surface.
The information of this page is only to be a guideline only and used at your own discretion. Eco925 will not be held responsible should any damages occur. If you are unsure about a particular item, we advise that you seek advice in person at your local jewellery store.