Jewellery Care

Jewellery, whether fine or costume, with diamonds or glass, is still a delicately made item that requires a lot of care and love. Some metals will require less attention than others, but no piece of jewellery will sustain pulling, knocking or other vigorous activity without being damaged or worn out prematurely. Also, the use of  chemicals like cleaning products, or even mild cosmetics suitable for skin, may have an negative effect on your jewellery so always keep in mind - "Last on, first off". Please take time to read these short, useful tips to help you preserve your pieces for longer. 

Slver will tarnish with time, especially when not worn. To clean a tarnished piece of silver jewellery, we recommend using a specialised silver dip. Silver pieces with opaque or porous natural stones like amber, pearl, coral, lapis lazuli and opal should under no circumstances be dipped in silver dips, as it will damage and change the look of the stones. For such pieces please use a silver cloth.

Gold plating is a thin layer of gold deposited on top of a base metal (silver, brass or other metals). Gold-plating will wear off with time and because of that use silver dip, rather than a polishing cloth, as as physical rubbing will wear off the gold layer quicker. For gold-plated jewellery with natural stones such as lapis lazuli, coral, amber, pearl and opal please use silver cloth. Do not use silver dips with these kind of stones as it will ruin their appearance.

AKA rolled-gold. Gold-filled pieces are much more hard-wearing and long-lasting then the similarly priced gold-plated jewellery. Gold-filled pieces are made of a thick layer of gold mechanically bonded with a base metal. They may tarnish, but this can be easily removed with a silver dip, if the stones used permit it. If not, please use a silver cloth.

 Gold, along with platinum and other non-tarnishing metals, is the easiest to care for. However, please note that with lower carats, like 14 or 9 carat gold jewellery, there is the possibility of tarnish in places with a prolonged contact with skin, cosmetics or perfumes. Gold can also discolour if in contact with some of the widely used cleaning products, so it is important to take of your jewellery when doing your household chores, or when going swimming. Depending on the stones you can clean gold jewellery in warm soapy water and use a soft brush to reach the hard places.  Please note this would not be a suitable method with stones such as opal.

Opal is an extremely delicate stone that does not like any type of chemicals, not even the ones used in cosmetics. Avoid at all times using perfume or creams when wearing your opal jewellery and do not bathe or go swimming whilst wearing it. It is also very sensitive to heat so it is advisable when cleaning your opal to use only warm soapy water. Please note that doublets and triplets (layered opals) should not be dipped in water but only cleaned with soft wet cloth.

They are the hardest known material on the planet, but diamonds too can get damaged or scratched. Diamonds can chip, brake or fall out of their settings when if they fall on a hard surface so please make sure you don't drop your diamond jewellery. When storing your diamond pieces make sure you store them individually wrapped in soft cloth - diamonds can scratch other diamonds, or softer stones and metals when bundled together in a box. 

Heat, air, water or light may have a negative impact on certain stones or metals. Silver, for example is prone to oxidise more when exposed to light and heat. Salty water is corrosive for most gemstones, and may discolour or matte them. Most gemstones contain water and therefore prefer room temperature, so it is advisable to to keep them away from any heat sources but not in airtight containers, so that they can benefit from moisture available in the air.

These types of cleaners, more and more available for household users use sound wave to dislodge dirt that is hard to reach by normal means of cleaning. However it will also damage the finish on certain gemstones like emerald or ruby, which tend to have fillers or other surface treatments to enhance their beauty. Most recommendable technique is to leave your jewellery in warm soapy water for a 15 minutes and rinse and clean off with soft brush.