How to Care for Jewelry

The jewelry you get from here is very hardy and can be worn everyday, but if you take good care of your pieces, they will last much longer. The difference can mean several extra months of daily wear or even years. Here are some tips to help you maximize your jewelry's life:

• Avoid chlorine from swimming pools which is very harsh on your jewelry.
• Avoid getting perfume and lotions on your jewelry since the unknown chemicals in them might react with the metal.
• Clean your jewelry often, especially if you know you won't be wearing it for a while so that it doesn't have to marinate in gunk for months. 

Gold-filled Jewelry:

✦ Gold filled jewelry loves a light wash with some mild soap once in a while (and especially before storing the jewelry for a long time) to remove any sweat/oils build-up.

✦ If you're wearing a piece daily, then simply shower in it. If you're done wearing a piece at the end of the day and don't plan on wearing it for a while, then quickly wash it in the sink and lay it flat to dry.

✦ To quickly wash jewelry, you can add a light drizzle of dish soap to a cup, fill it with warm water, and dunk your jewelry in the bubbly mix. Then lay flat to dry.

Gold-plated Jewelry:

✦ 18K Gold-plated steel jewelry also benefits from a light wash because it keeps all the dead skin and build-up from clouding up the jewelry.

Sterling Silver Jewelry:

✦ Sterling silver jewelry will tarnish over time, and when it does, a nice wipe down with a polishing cloth will bring it right back. Remember to wash the jewelry after polishing to keep the polish from irritating your skin.

✦ If you get lazy with polishing, just store your sterling silver items in a little airtight zippy bag, and they won't turn.

Gemstones and Pearls:

✦ Pearl items like to be worn at least once every few months or stored with open air to keep the pearls from naturally yellowing.

✦Genuine opals do not like water. Avoid getting your opal wet. Opals like to soak up water which will make the beautiful fiery colors disappear until the opal dries up again which may take weeks. The texture of the opal is smooth and slightly waxy and is softer than most other gemstones, therefore, you should take care not scratch it with anything sharp.