Jewellery Care:

With the right care, jewellery will last for decades and bring you years of pleasure. The following tips list practical steps for you to achieve this.

ALWAYS:

  • Take off your jewellery when doing physical work such as household chores, exercise or gardening.  Jewellery will get scratched and damaged if knocked or if it comes in contact with abrasive material.  Diamonds and other precious gemstones are set securely but if you don’t give your jewellery the care and attention it requires stones could become lose and sometimes even fall out!
  • Take off your jewellery before going to bed.  It’s easy to damage chains, earrings or rings while asleep.
  • Apply lotion, cosmetics, hairspray and perfume before you put your jewellery on.  The oil in lotions and creams stick to your jewellery and will make your jewellery lose its sparkle and shine.  Also, chemicals in perfumes will discolour the gold and could also damage any porous gemstones or pearl jewellery that you are wearing.
  • Store jewellery items in separate boxes with a fabric-lined interior.  Keeping jewellery in individual boxes will ensure that they don’t come into contact with each other which could cause scratches.  Also, keeping chains in the same box could make them get knotted together.  Don’t tug them – the best way to detangle them is to use a pin and be gentle when separating them

NEVER:

  • Never expose jewellery to chlorine swimming pools or hot tubs
  • Never allow jewellery to come into contact with household cleaning products.  The chemical in these products could damage or discolour your jewellery.
  • Never wear jewellery during physical work such as exercise or gardening. 

General Tips:

  • Try not to wear more than one chain at a time.  They can get tangles and knotted causing scratches.
  • Heat and hot water can loosen settings where an adhesive has been used. Pearl rings, earrings and pendants have this type of setting so be careful with them. 
  • Gemstones can be quite soft in nature (especially emeralds).  For this reason it is very important to ensure that you take special care when wearing them as any unintensional impact to the gemstones can cause them to break.

Cleaning Tips:

  • Clean your jewellery in a secure location, not over a sink where a piece could slip down the drain
  • Periodically clean your jewellery with warm soapy water and a soft brush.  Its best to soak the item in warm water for a few hours so that any dirt stuck to the jewellery is easy to remove with a brush.  After soaking, always scrub the dirt off very gentle with the brush.
  • Hard stones (diamond, garnets, sapphires, rubies and amethysts) can be dipped and scrubbed with a soft toothbrush. Amber can be cleaned as long as it is dried straight away. Pearls, jade, jet, lapis, emeralds, opals and turquoise soak up liquid so they should not be dipped in water.
  • Always dry the jewellery with a soft cloth after cleaning.

Looking after Pearl Jewellery:

  • Pearls are an organic gem composed of Calcium Carbonate and are therefore very vulnerable if exposed to certain chemicals found in cosmetics, hair spray and perfume.  Always make sure you style your hair, apply your make up and spray your perfume before you put on any pearl jewellery.
  • Always wipe your pearls with a soft cloth after you remove them for the day.  Pearls can be damage by perspiration, therefore removing any sweat from the pearls will help preserve their luster.
  • Acid in sweat, perfume, fruit juice, vinegar and various other substances will damage a pearls luster and cause long term damage.  Be sure to wipe your pearls with a soft cloth if you feel they have come in contact with any such substance.
  • You should only clean pearls with water if you feel that they can no longer be cleaned with a soft cloth.  Be sure to use mineral water or distilled water as tap water contains traces of substances that can damage your pearls.
  • If it is necessary to use water to clean your pearl jewellery, always dry it quickly with a soft cloth afterwards.
  • Store your pearls in a manner that keeps them separate from other pieces of jewellery to avoid any scratching.  Other gems may scratch the surface of pearls if they come in contact with them. 
  • Avoid storing pearls in excessively dry conditions for prolonged periods of time.  Dry conditions can dehydrate pearls causing small surface fractures.