Jewellery Care
Get into the habit of removing your jewellery before showering or bathing. This is a good time to carry out its daily cleaning. Soap can deposit a film that diminishes the liveliness and beauty of your jewellery, necessitating more frequent cleaning. Also remove jewellery before putting on makeup or powder or hair spray, and wash your hands to remove dulling residues after applying makeup before handling your jewellery.
Try not to touch the stones in your rings when putting them on or off. Instead, hold the ring by the shank (metal portion that encircles the finger). Touching the stones will cause a greasy build-up on their surfaces, which greatly reduces brilliance and sparkle.
To restore ring’s sparkle, get into the habit of “huffing” them to remove the dirt and oily film on the stone’s surface. Simply hold the ring close to your mouth, huff” on it with your breath – you’ll see the stone fog up – and wipe it off with a soft, lint-free cloth such as a handkerchief or a blouse sleeve. You’ll be amazed to see how much better jewellery can look simply by removing even the lightest oil from the surface.
Avoid wearing fine jewellery while doing any type of rough work, such as house cleaning or gardening. Abrasives can scratch your jewellery – both the stones and the metal. Chemicals such as chlorine can cause discoloration of metals used in settings and dull the polish on many stones, making it necessary to have the stone repolished to restore its full beauty. Chlorine can also cause pitting and discoloration to settings. Ammonia will remove the polish on stones such as malachite, turquoise and coral.
Avoid exposing fine jewellery to intense heat, for example, while cooking. Exposure to extreme heat can cause damage to many gems. Enamel also may be ruined by contact with heat. Every 12 to 18 months have your jeweller check each piece to make sure the setting is secure, and have prongs or shanks reinforced as necessary. If you ever feel or hear the stone moving in the setting, it is a warning that the prongs or bezel need tightening. Also, check catches and clasps to make sure they are secure and working properly. Failure to take care of this may result in loss or damage.
Storing Fine Jewellery
Avoid exposing fine jewellery to extreme temperature changes, such as might be encountered by putting jewellery in a refrigerator or in-the-ground safe during the winter, where temperatures may be quite cold, then removing it and wearing it in a heated room. This is especially true with opals.
Store your jewellery in a dry place. Avoid extremes of temperature and humidity. Keep gemstone-studded jewellery, pearls, and gold jewellery separated from each other to prevent scratching. Store silver separately from gold jewellery, to avoid tarnishing the gold.
Do not store pearls or opals for long periods of time in a safe deposit box. The dry, close air and dark environment seems to discolour pearls and dry out both pearls and opals.
Keep fine jewellery in soft pouches or wrapped in soft cloth to help protect it. Don’t overcrowd your jewellery box. This can result in misplacing or losing pieces, which might fall, unnoticed from the case, or damage, such as bending a fragile piece or chipping a fragile stone.
Diamonds can scratch other gemstones very easily, and can also scratch each other. Ideally, to prevent scratching, diamond jewellery should be placed in a case that has dividers or separated compartments, or each piece should be individually wrapped (but not in facial tissue).
Pearls of all kinds (natural, cultured, South Sea, Tahitian, freshwater) are very soft, only 2 ½ to 4 on the Mohs hardness scale. Because normal dust contains much harder quartz particles, pearls can be easily scratched if left uncovered. Store pearls in a separate pouch, preferably one lined with a soft fabric such as satin, or wrap it to prevent scratching the pearl’s surface on sharp metal edges or prongs, or against harder stones. Never toss carelessly into a purse or travel case. Avoid contact with ammonia, inks, hair spray, perfumes, cosmetics, and especially vinegar, which will immediately begin eating the pearl’s surface. These substances will spot the pearls, and some of the substances may weaken the string, making it susceptible to breakage.
Restring pearls periodically. If they are worn frequently, once a year is recommended. Fine pearls should always be strung with knots tied in the space separating each pearl to prevent them from rubbing against each other (which can damage the nacre), or from scattering and getting lost if the string should break. Treat any organic gem, such as amber, coral or jet as you would pearls.
How to Clean Jewellery
Perhaps the simplest and easiest way to clean any kind of jewellery is to prepare a small bowl of warm, sudsy water, using any kind of mild liquid detergent. Let the piece soak a few minutes and then brush gently with a soft complexion brush or soft-bristled toothbrush, keeping the piece submerged in the sudsy water. Rinse thoroughly under running water (make sure the drain is closed; some prefer to place the jewellery in a strainer before putting it under the running water) and pat dry with a soft, lint-free cloth or paper towel.
For karat gold jewellery without gemstones, rubbing with a soft chamois cloth will restore much of the lustre. Tarnish can be removed with a solution of soap and water to which a few teaspoons of ammonia has been added. Using a soft toothbrush, brush the jewellery with this solution, rinse with warm water and dry with a soft cloth. Grease can be removed by dipping in plain rubbing alcohol before washing.
Never clean opals or emeralds in an ultrasonic cleaner. They can crack opals, and remove oil treatments from emeralds, making inclusions more visible and weaken the apparent colour.
If you take jewellery with you when travelling, don’t pack it in luggage (such as an overnight or makeup case) to be given to the bell captain at a hotel, ship’s porters, etc. Never leave it in your room. Wherever possible, obtain a safety deposit box in which to store your jewellery when not wearing it, even for part of a day. Also store the jewellery you leave behind at home in a safety deposit box.
Enjoy Your Jewellery
How to Care your Pearls & Pearls Jewellery
The pearls most of us wear today are cultured pearls, their existence initiated by humans who insert a bead or other object into an oyster or clam. The clam coats the foreigner with nacre, the patina that gives pearls their unique appearance.
The depth of the nacre coating depends on the type of creature involved, the water it lives in, and how long the intruder is left in place before it is removed. As nacre thickness increases, so does the quality and durability of the pearl.
Caring for Your Pearls
Even cultured pearls with thicker coatings are more fragile than most other gemstones, so you must handle them carefully to keep them in the best condition.
Your pearls will stay cleaner if you put them on after you’ve applied your makeup and perfume.
Be sure to take off your pearl rings before you apply hand and body creams.
Wipe your pearls with a soft, lint-free cloth as soon as you take them off. The cloth can be dampened with water or it can be dry. If damp, allow the pearls to air dry before putting them away. Dirty pearls can be cleaned with a mild soap and water solution.
Never clean your pearls with solutions that contain ammonia or harsh detergents.
Don’t put pearl jewellery in an ultrasonic cleaner.
Don’t use abrasive cleaners or rub pearls with abrasive cloth. Both can wear away the nacre coating, leaving you with a plain looking bead.
Storing Pearls
Don’t store your pearls with other jewellery, because they can be scratched easily when metal or gemstones rub against them. Find a special slot in your jewellery box for the pearls, or keep them in a soft bag made from chamois or another non-abrasive material.
Your fine pearl necklaces should be restrung periodically so that you’re sure the silk or nylon cord holding them is in good shape.