Jewelry Care - how to care for your jewelry

Caring for your Jewelry

All fine jewelry requires special care. And with proper handling and cleaning, your treasured pieces will last a lifetime. Below are some general rules for caring for your jewelry:

	Protect your jewelry from scratches, sharp blows, chemicals, extreme temperatures, and direct sunlight.
	After each wearing, gently wipe each piece of jewelry clean of make up and skin oils with a 100% cotton cloth.
	Store jewelry pieces separately from each other in a jewelry box or drawer away from direct sunlight. This way, they will not scratch each other, and the sun will not fade any gemstones.
	Remove rings when doing household or handyman tasks such a gardening, cleaning and household repairs.
	Apply makeup and hairspray before putting on your jewelry. Hairspray, especially, can be very damaging to soft stones, such as pearls, shells, malachite and lapis lazuli.
	Do not wear jewelry while in a swimming pool or hot tub. The chlorine added to the water can damage various gemstones and metals including gold. Chlorine is a major killer of jewelry!
	Pearls, opals, and other soft stones (see list below) should not be worn when swimming in any kind of water. The salt in seawater, chlorine in a swimming pool, and certain bacteria in freshwater can damage the stone over time.
	Beaded necklaces, especially those strung on silk, should be stored lying flat because silk stretches over time.
	Most jewelry can be stored in re-sealable plastic or jewelry bags, with anti-tarnish paper to retard tarnish. However, jewelry that contains pearls or opals will need to be stored in fabric instead of plastic as they need to "breathe."

Cleaning Your Jewelry

Most of the jewelry I create contains various semi-precious stones, pearls, sterling silver, fine silver and various gold metals. Here is a guide as to how to clean your jewelry that incorporates these materials.

Semi-precious Stones

Most semi-precious stones can be wiped off with a damp cloth for their best shine. Immersing them in chemical cleaners will eventually begin to damage many stones. If the stones are set in metal that has tarnished, you can use a jewelry polishing cloth to shine up the jewelry. Unless it is stated on the cloth's label that it is not to be used on gemstones, most polishing cloths are okay to use on this type of jewelry.

Freshwater Pearls, Opals and other soft stones

Please be kind to these! They are soft and porous, meaning they will soak in whatever liquid they are immersed in, directly into the stone . Over time, this will ruin the look and texture of the stone. Never put them in a jewelry chemical dip or ionic cleaner. Your best bet is to simply wipe then off with a barely damp cloth. I've seen quite a few pearls and opals meet their death because they were soaked in chlorine. It's not a pretty sight. Trust me!

Other soft stones that should not be used with any chemical cleaners or immersed in chlorine are listed below. Clean them as you would a pearl or opal.

Amber	Aquamarine	Coral
Emerald	Jade	Jet
Lapis Lazuli	Malachite	Opal
Pearls	Shell (any kind including Mother of Pearl)	Turquoise

Silver and Gold

Silver and gold can be cared for in pretty much the same way. You can use these methods to clean and polish both .925 sterling silver, .999 fine silver, 14 karat gold and 14 karat gold filled metals.

	Commercial silver/gold cleaners If the piece is entirely created from metal with no gemstones set in it, commercial cleaners are normally okay to use as long as they state on the label that they are meant to clean gold and silver. If the piece does contain gemstones, be sure that the stones in the jewelry can withstand the chemicals in the cleaner. Always read the label, and if in doubt, do not use a chemical cleaner. Some gemstones that can withstand mild chemical cleaners are hematite, garnet, amethyst, most quartz, agates, tiger eye, emerald, ruby, cubic zirconium, sapphire, and man-made stones such as fiber optic cat's eyes and goldstone, Swarovski Austrian crystals.
	Jewelry polishing cloth or Sunshine Cloth These cloths have been treated so they contain jewelry polish in their fabric. They can be used to polish both jewelry that is created out of plain metal, or contain gemstones. Buff the piece lightly to restore it's original luster.
	Toothpaste Yes, the old standby still works. Take an old toothbrush and some toothpaste and buff lightly on any metal surface and it will shine it right up. Due to the other chemicals in the toothpaste, I would advise using this method only on plain metal pieces and those containing gemstones that can withstand chemical jewelry cleaners. This is the best, and least expensive way to clean diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds and amethyst.

Antiqued Silver

All of my "black" jewelry is antiqued sterling silver. Antiquing silver basically is a process of quickly tarnishing the silver. Once the black color is achieved, I put a special protective lacquer over it to protect the color from fading, and from bleeding onto a person's skin or clothing. This type of jewelry should not be stored in direct sunlight, because over time the sunlight can begin to effect the color of the antiqued metal. You cannot clean antiqued silver in a chemical jewelry cleaner. You cannot wear it in any type of water. The chemicals in a jewelry cleaner will begin to pit the lacquer, causing it to flake off, and then exposing the colored silver. Water, especially if it contains chlorine or is sea water, will do the same as a jewelry cleaner. To clean a piece, all you have to do is lightly buff it with a slightly damp cloth. If the antiqued piece contains sterling silver components, you can buff those lightly with a jewelry polishing cloth.

Copper and Brass

Copper and brass are two of the most simple metals to care for even though they tarnish quickly. The best method to clean them is actually a staple found in your kitchen. Ketchup! No, I'm not kidding. The acid in the tomato used to make the ketchup shines up copper and brass beautifully. Just apply it with either a soft cloth or an old toothbrush and rinse thoroughly with warm soapy water. I do want to caution you that you should avoid getting ketchup on any of the stones that should not be used with chemical cleaners.