General Jewelry Care

Care should be taken when wearing your jewelry. Most pieces are fairly durable, but hard or repeated tugging, or sharp blows can break connections and chip gemstones and other materials. Additionally, some chemicals (such as those found in household cleaning solutions) can harm the finish on many gemstones. In addition to cleaning chemicals, pearls also can be harmed by lotions, perfumes and hairspray. Never wear your jewelry when sleeping, exercising or cleaning, and always put your jewelry on after using hairsprays and perfumes.

General Cleaning

Most jewelry created from silver, gold, gemstones, crystals, shell, etc can be safely washed in a solution of mild dishwashing soap and lukewarm water. Rub the item gently with a soft towel or toothbrush. Rinse thoroughly and place on a towel to dry. Never soak jewelry in this or any solution unless you are sure the item doesnt contain pearls or that the beads dont have a special coating.

Jewelry that is completely silver may be dipped in commercial cleaning solutions. Jewelry that is composed of silver and crystal, gemstones or other materials can be washed in the dishwashing solution described above, then when dry the silver pieces can be polished with a jewelry polishing cloth. If tarnish is allowed to get bad enough it may be necessary to take the item apart to clean each piece individually. I offer this cleaning and restringing service for a small fee contact me for details.

Storing Jewelry

Separate Jewelry Items - In order to prevent scratching, keep items separated - never pile jewelry. Even a jewelry box doesn't offer much protection if the jewelry items are tossed in on top of one another.

Storing Natural Pearls - Pearls are usually strung and knotted with a silk thread or a similar synthetic thread. This type of thread has a tendency to stretch when hung for long periods so do not hang pearl strands for storage. Keep pearls in a soft, breathable cloth bag when not in use. Never store peals in a plastic bag or any material that does not allow for air circulation as pearls that are not allowed to "breathe" loose their luster.

Storing Silver - Silver does tarnish but the rate of oxidation is slowed by wear. If you do not wear your silver pieces on a regular basis they should be stored in air-tight plastic bags to prevent tarnish. However, if the strand contains pearls you should forego the plastic bag and take your chances with tarnish (see the Storing Natural Pearls section above.)