|
Articles > Jewelry care and maintenance
Jewelry care and maintenance
Gems are among the most durable of nature’s creations. With a little care, they will be as beautiful for generations to come as they are today.
To keep your gems sparkling, clean them when dust and fingerprints have dimmed their brilliance. The best way to clean your gemstone jewelry is in a bowl of hot water with a few drops of ordinary dish detergent. Using a toothbrush or other soft brush, scrub gently behind the stone where dust and soap can collect. Then just rinse and pat try with a soft cloth. For heavily soiled settings add 2-3 milliliters of strong ammonia to a bowl of hot water and detergent. Rather tap the setting than brush sidewise.
Important: After cleaning a piece containing gemstone in hot water do not rinse it directly under the cold water tap. This could cause thermal shock that some stones can not withstand.
Avoid wearing your precious metal jewelry during any rough manual work or activities such as playing sport or working in the garden.
Every day household items can ruin your gemstone jewelry. Make sure you don't expose your gems to the chemicals in cleaning products, hair care products, fragrances and cosmetics. Also avoid letting precious metals come in contact with abrasive surfaces.
When getting dressed, put your jewelry on last. At the end of the day, take your jewelry off first. Store your jewelry in a cloth-lined box or pouch and keep them away from other jewelry, which might scratch them.
You can regularly inspect your jewelry for damage or loosening yourself. It is really surprising how much more one can see using 10x magnifying glass. If you properly clean your piece and then gently tap the stone with your indexfinger you can detect the movement if loose.
A professional jeweler should check stone set rings at least twice a year? This is of particular importance if they are worn everyday. Periodic inspections will insure the stones aren't loose and that the prong tips aren't too worn.
The different gemstones have some specific requirements in cleaning, maintenance and storage. Some of them are hard and tough other require special care. Bellow is a handy table to guide you what is safe and what not in caring and wearing the most popular stones.
Why Does Gold Discolor Fingers?
You may think that faulty manufacturing or under karating might be the problem when a ring "turns black", or discolors the skin and clothing. However, that is not the case. You can understand these causes, and how to prevent them.
The most common reason is metallic abrasion, caused by makeup on skin or clothing. Cosmetics often contain compounds harder than the jewelry itself, which wear or rub off very tiny particles. Very finely divided metal always appears black rather than metallic, so it looks like a jet-black dust. When this dust comes into contact with absorbent surfaces such as skin or clothing, it sticks, forming a black smudge. To prevent this, you should try switching cosmetics. If this is not possible, we recommend that you remove rings and other jewelry while applying them, and clean skin areas in contact with jewelry with soap and water.
Another cause is actual corrosion of the metals. Gold itself does not corrode, but its primary alloys of silver or copper will do so-forming very dark chemical compounds-under moist or wet conditions. When you perspire, fats and fatty acids released can cause corrosion of 14K gold, but especially 10K gold jewelry (due to the fact that 10K gold contains more alloy metal) when exposed to warmth and air. This problem can be worse in seacoast and semitropical areas, where chlorides combine with perspiration to form a corrosive element that discolors skin. Medications absorbed in the body may also act as corrosive agents and react to the alloy metals in jewelry. Smog fumes gradually attack jewelry and are evident as a tarnish that rubs off on the skin.
We suggest that you remove jewelry often and use an absorbent powder, free of abrasives, on skin that comes into contact with jewelry.Even the design of jewelry can be an influence. Wide shanks have more surface area to contact abrasives or corrosives. Concave surfaces inside a shank form collection points that trap moisture and contaminants, also causing a type of dermatitis. You should remove all rings before using soaps, cleaning compounds or detergents, and clean your rings frequently. As well as solving the problem, you'll be amazed at how much better your rings look!
Perspiration, cosmetics, and perfume can damage pearls. Therefore, they should be cleaned by gently rubbing with a damp cloth. A brush should not be used because it could scratch the surface of the pearl. Take care not to get them wet, because water could get into the drill hole and cause the pearl to discolor. Also, if the thread becomes overly wet, the dampness can cause deterioration of the string. Restring your pearls periodically. Pearls should always be strung with knots tied in the space separating each pearl to prevent them from rubbing against each other or from scattering in the event the string would break.
|
