General Information
Caring for jewelry is a necessary part of owning the jewelry. With proper care, your jewelry will bring you continued satisfaction of ownership over the years. We are bringing you this information to help you know how to care for your jewelry and get that lasting satisfaction.
Caring for jewelry is a necessary part of owning the jewelry. With proper care, your jewelry will bring you continued satisfaction of ownership over the years. We are bringing you this information to help you know how to care for your jewelry and get that lasting satisfaction.
Some tips to remember when caring for your jewelry include:
- Avoid wearing fine jewelry when you're performing manual labor tasks, such as housework.
- Clean your jewelry periodically. This will help ensure its fine appearance and will help it last. To clean, use warm soapy water (use a non-detergent soap) to soak your jewelry.
- Use a soft brush to help remove dirt on the prongs of larger gem jewelry.
- Use plain alcohol or vodka to help reduce greasy film on diamond jewelry prior to any other cleaning done.
Cultured Pearl Information
Cultured pearls have a living organism origin. They are highly susceptible to damage and are very delicate; cultured pearl jewelry owners should be careful with their cultured pearls.
Some tips to remember when caring for cultured pearls include:
- Be careful where you store your cultured pearl jewelry. Metal and other materials can damage the surface of the cultured pearl.
- Cleaning cultured pearls need only involve soap and water. Other cleaning agents may damage your cultured pearls.
- Remove traces of cosmetics and other such materials from your cultured pearl jewelry before placing it in its storage place.
- Wrap your cultured pearl jewelry in a tissue or other suitable holding device before placing it in its storage place.
- You should take your cultured pearl jewelry back to your jeweler for restringing once a year.
Diamond Information
Some of the most popular jewelry items involve diamond jewelry. Diamonds are durable and the hardest material known. Because of the amount of light that can enter a diamond, they shine very well. The 4 C's is a way of describing the quality/traits of a diamond.
The 4 C's:
Color-The more colorless the diamond, generally, the more valuable it is.
Cut-A full-cut diamond has 58 facets, flanked surfaces on the stone. This is considered a roughly "perfect" cut. Other cuts have different values.
Clarity-The clearer the diamond, the less foreign matter (inclusions-air bubbles, rubies, black spots of carbon, or anything else that is in the stone) is present in it, the more sparkly it is, and the more valuable it is.
Carat Weight-The higher the carat weight, the higher the value of the diamond.
Some tips to remember when caring for diamond jewelry include:
- Avoid wearing diamond jewelry when performing manual labor.
- Ammonia and water, as well as several commercial cleaners, work well for diamond jewelry.
- Avoid placing your diamond jewelry in chlorine-containing substances.
Gold Information
Gold is a rare, soft, and very valuable metal. It is based on a karat system where 24K gold is pure gold, and 10K gold is 10 parts gold with 14 parts alloy. Karat values in between correspond to a parts karat + parts alloy = 24 value.
Some tips to remember when caring for gold jewelry include:
- Be wary of makeup, moisture, and chemicals that may affect your gold jewelry's appearance.
- Keep gold jewelry out of swimming pools with chlorine; chlorine can damage it over a period of time.
- Check your gold jewelry for scratches or other damage, and bring it to your jeweler if there is any; he or she may be able to repair it.
Platinum Information
The purity of platinum is often higher than that of gold. Platinum jewelry is usually in the neighborhood of 90%+ pure. It also more "solid" than gold in terms of how resistant it is to tarnishing by chlorine, etc. It is very strong; plus, it is a very popular choice in jewelry making.
Some tips to remember when caring for platinum jewelry include:
- Fortunately, platinum is very durable and does not lose its polish very easily. Cleaning patterns are the same as other metals.
- For jewelry that combines platinum with other fine jewelry components (like gold), clean those substances and care for them as you would if they were not paired with platinum. Also, keep in mind the necessary steps for caring for these other components.
Silver Information
Silver, one of the world's most useful metals, is also one of the world's most valuable metals. It can achieve a great polish and does not tarnish in its pure form. Most silver jewelry is silver combined with other metals (alloys). This makes it more suitable for general jewelry use.
Some tips to remember when caring for silver jewelry include:
- Silver is scratch-resistant but not scratch-proof.
- In addition to the general jewelry care steps, silver jewelry care can benefit from special silver jewelry cleaning solutions. Check with your jeweler about these.
- Prevent your silver from being exposed to direct air and light contact.
- Avoid placing silver in chlorine-containing materials.
- Be selective in what you use to clean your silver, i.e. pads, cloths, etc. Felt works well, as do special cleansing cloths designed for silver cleaning. Other materials, including tissue, should be avoided. Ask Liz or Mel for more information.
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