Tips on Jewelry Care

Other Tips on Caring for Your Gems & Jewelry:

• Store your jewelry carefully. Avoid extremes of temperature and humidity or exposing to extreme temperature changes. Keep fine jewelry items separated in soft pouches, cotton filled boxes or wrapped in a soft cloth to prevent scratching, avoid pulling and mis-shaping of wires or cracking a fragile stone.
• Avoid wearing fine jewelry while bathing or swimming or using abrasives or chemicals. Soaps can deposit a film, necessitating more frequent cleaning. Abrasives can scratch the metal or stones. Chemicals such as chlorine and ammonia can cause settings to pit, discoloration of metals and dull or remove the polish on stones.
• Maintain the beauty of your fine jewelry item by cleaning on a regular basis. Film from lotions, powders and your own skin oils will dull stones and reduce their brilliance. Cleaning with warm, sudsy water is the simplest way to clean any type of jewelry. NEVER boil jewelry to clean, this can crack a stone or diminish the color. Even lampwork glass beads, although created in fire and annealed in a kiln for durability, can break in boiling water. Never soak gemstone jewelry in a commercial cleaner for more than a few minutes, this can cause etching of the surface of the stone. Avoid using ultrasonic cleaners which can cause cracking of stones, the new ionic cleaners are safer.
• PLEASE..... handle your jewelry with tender, loving care. Dichroic glass, lampwork beads and crystals are made from glass. Gemstones can also be fragile. They can break or chip of dropped on a hard surface!!

Caring for Your Gold Vermeil:

      While this type of jewelry is somewhat more durable than gold-plated items, the thin layer of gold is highly susceptible to scratching. Use dry cotton balls to gently clean and polish any dust or dry residue on your gold vermeil jewelry. Apply 1 to 2 drops of silver dipping solution to a cotton ball and gently rub the vermeil if additional cleaning is required, this type of cleanser can usually be found at fine jewelry stores. Remove any vermeil jewelry pieces before bathing or swimming. Protect from nicks and scratches by storing in a zippered plastic bag.

Caring for Your Pearls:

     The softness of pearls and their low resistance to heat and chemicals means that certain precautions must be taken. After worn, wipe with a dry or damp soft cloth or chamois. If very dirty, wash in water and a mild soap such as Ivory or Lux liquid. Pay attention to the areas around the drill holes where dirt can collect. If there is a lump of dirt that can not be rubbed off with a soft cloth, try using your fingernail to remove the dirt. The fingernail is softer than a pearl and would not scratch the pearl surface. After washing, lay the pearls flat in a moist towel to dry. When the towel is dry, the pearls will also be dry. Wrap in a soft material or jewelry pouch and store away from heat or strong sunlight.

     DO NOT use commercial jewelry cleansing solutions UNLESS the label says safe for pearls, detergents, bleaches, powdered cleansers, BAKING SODA, ammonia-based cleansers, toothbrushes, scouring pads or abrasive materials. NEVER steam-clean or use an ultrasonic cleaner. DO NOT store near heaters or in places that get strong sunlight. Sealed plastic bags prevent pearls from breathing and getting needed moisture. IF stored in safe deposit boxes, try to take them out occasionally to expose them to humidity or moisture.