Jewelry Care

Jewelry Care

For most people jewelry is a very personal choice. There are so many stories and emotions that go along with individual pieces of jewelry and because of that, it is very important to take care of those prized possessions so that they can last a life time.

General Tips for Jewelry Care

• Put jewelry on after applying makeup, hairspray and/or perfume
• Properly store your jewelry. It should never be tossed into a drawer or on top of a dresser. Most items will come in a box or pouch from the store that it was purchased from; if possible, this is the best place to store your jewelry. Otherwise, fabric lined jewelry boxes with individual padded compartments can also serve the same purpose. When jewelry is stored together, it can easily get scratched and stones can chip.
• Take your jewelry off before swimming in a chlorinated pool
• Take your jewelry off before doing any manual labor or household work (many cleaning products contain ammonia which can harm some metals and gemstones. Chlorine bleach can pit gold alloys.)
• Make sure you get your fine jewelry cleaned and checked on a semi-annual, to annual basis. If you go back to the store you originally purchased the item from; they will most likely do it for free! You can bring any item that you purchase from The Ring back to us as often as you like and we will inspect it and professionally clean the piece at no charge.

Cleaning Fine Jewelry

Daily grime, lotion, soap and other assorted gunk has a way of finding jewelry and sticking to it. It’s easy to keep your jewelry looking great though! If you can’t make it in to have your jewelry professionally cleaned and checked from the store you purchased it from, there is an easy way to clean your jewelry at home.

1. Put a couple of drops of a mild dish soap in a bowl of warm water (not HOT water, use warm water . . . drastic temperature changes can harm certain gemstones)
2. Mix the soap into the water, place the jewelry into the bowl and let it soak for about 15 minutes
3. Take a soft bristled toothbrush (the softer, the better) and gently brush away the dirt that has accumulated on the item. This method works wonders on engagement rings . . . you can easily clean underneath a diamond or center stone and it will sparkle like it’s new!
4. Rinse the jewelry off with warm water and blot dry with a soft cloth

Cleaning Silver Jewelry

The most common types of silver are silverplate and sterling silver. Silverplated jewelry is made mostly of a base metal that has silver electroplated over it. Sterling silver is an alloy composed of 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent of another metal, most likely copper. It is the copper in the sterling silver, or silverplate that causes it to become tarnished.

Silver needs cleaning because it tends to tarnish. At first, the tarnish is yellowish, but then it turns to brown then black and as it gets darker the tarnish becomes more difficult to remove. Thus, it is important to clean silver regularly in order to prevent this kind of buildup. Silver tarnishes because of hydrogen sulfide in items and materials that come into contact with the silver. What happens is that the copper and the silver oxidize, and it is this chemical reaction that gives silver a tarnished appearance.

The safest way to clean silver jewelry is with a polishing cloth or with a cream jewelry cleaner (the less abrasive the cleaner, the better). Apply the cream polish to the jewelry and rub it in a circular motion. This should clean the tarnish off. Make sure to rinse the item off in warm water and remove all of the polish.