Care For Jewelry
CARE FOR JEWELRY
Proper care and maintenance of your fine jewelry will ensure a lifetime of enjoyment. Stop by H&H, we are always happy to clean your jewelry free of charge while you wait.
At least twice a year allow us to professionally clean your diamonds, jewelry, and the outside case and bracelet of your timepieces.
PICK A SUBJECT:
Care for Your Jewelry While
Wearing It:
Remove Jewelry before Washing Hands, Cleaning, and Handling Chemicals
Everyday life creates most wear and tear to jewelry. Chemicals used around your home cannot only damage a stone (or ruin certain gems, such as pearls), they could also exponentially speed up the rate at which the rhodium wears off white gold rings. It is always a good practice to remove rings before doing extensive work with your hands, such as housekeeping, cooking, gardening, or exercise.
The Best Ways to Clean Your Jewelry:
If you do not always have time to make it in for our staff to clean your jewelry, there are plenty of ways to take care of your jewelry at home.
Use a Jewelry Polishing Cloth
Using tissue paper or a paper towel can scratch your gold or silver jewelry. To keep these pieces at their highest luster, it is best to wipe them regularly to remove fingerprint smudges and gradual wear, which is inevitable with time.
The Best Ways to Clean Specific Stones
and Metals:
Each stone is different and requires a different method of cleaning. It is important to understand the qualities of your stones and metals to prevent them from being damaged during cleaning. When cleaning jewelry, it is important to remember that more debris will get caught underneath your stones than on top of them.
DIAMONDS
Diamonds can be easily cleaned using a soft-bristled brush (like a toothbrush) and a mild solution comprised of ammonia and water. Using this solution, you can gently scrub away all dirt and gunk that have gotten underneath your stone and prevent it from shining at its brightest. It is best to avoid touching your diamond because fingerprint smudges and body oils will rub off on the stone, dulling its brilliance. Diamonds are hard enough that they can be cleaned by being left in an ultrasonic device, assuming they are not cracked or damaged in any way.
GEMSTONES
The safest way to clean most gemstone jewelry is to soak it in a bowl of slightly warm, soapy water and use a toothbrush (or something similar) to remove the grime caught underneath the stone. Because approximately 99% of all colored gemstones are treated in some way to enhance their color, it is best to only use a simple solution for cleaning gemstones to prevent the color from dulling. Certain gemstones, such as rubies and sapphires, are able to be cleaned in an ultrasonic machine, but gemstones are much softer than diamonds and require much more care when being cleaned.
OPALS
Opals are delicate stones, but it is possible to clean them. If an opal is solid, it may be soaked in slightly warm water. In fact, opals are made up of 3-21% water, and they can become damaged if they get too dried out. The problem with cleaning opals is that some of them are doublets or triplets. This means that there is a piece of material (usually either black onyx or another dark stone) that is placed under the opal to bring out more intensity in the colors. In a triplet, there is also a piece of clear, domed quartz covering the top of the opal. Soaking doublets or triplets in water could cause the quartz to fog, and it could potentially weaken the material connecting the opal with the stone underneath. If you have concerns over whether your opal jewelry is a doublet, triplet, or solid, any of our highly trained staff members would be happy to help you determine this for sure.
PEARLS
Gems that come from living creatures are always more delicate than those formed underground through millions of years of heat and pressure. The nacre layers of a pearl are very easily damaged by everyday chemicals and ordinary cleaning solutions. We recommend cleaning pearls using only water (purified water if possible) or a very mild soapy solution. It is also important to not leave your pearls in a solution for too long or to scrub them too hard. It is not a bad idea to wipe pearls clean with a soft cloth after wearing them to remove any body oils or perfume.
METAL JEWELRY
Your solid gold, silver, and platinum jewelry is much easier to clean than the pieces containing stones. These pieces can be soaked in rubbing alcohol to dissolve any sticky grime. A toothbrush can be carefully used to clean engraving, filigree, and other hard-to-reach areas. A silver or gold cloth is also a good investment to keep your metals at their highest luster.
The Best Ways to Store Your Jewelry
For these precious items, it is best to store them in a way that the elements will not damage them while they are not being worn:
- Store Jewelry Separately– When storing multiple jewelry items together, each item should be stored separately. Jewelry and gemstones can be delicate and can be damaged by other items. It is best to store each piece of jewelry for the long term in an individual box or jewelry box that holds each piece in a fixed spot. It is important to remember that even diamonds can be scratched by another diamond.
- Avoid Storing Pearls or Beads in a Pouch– Storing pearls or beads in a pouch can cause them to become tangled or wear on the knots so that they do not lie flat. Storing pearls in a pouch can become even more dangerous because the pearls hitting one another could potentially cause them to crack or scratch.
- Avoid Storing Pearls and Opals in a Plastic Bag– Storing pearls or opals in a plastic bag could cause them to dry out over time because of the lack of moisture in the bag.
- Avoid Heat– Intense heat is the enemy of jewelry. Extended exposure to heat can make metal bend easier and crack or damage stones. Some colored gemstones may even lose some of their color when left in conditions of extreme heat.
- Store Silver in an Airtight Bag– Silver tarnishes due to a process called oxidation, which occurs when it is exposed to oxygen. Keeping your silver stored in an airtight bag or container will help prevent it from tarnishing and losing its luster over time.
