Jewellery Care
First and foremost I want to tell you that I don’t want you to be intimidated by this. I do want you to wear your jewellery, love your jewellery, and use your jewellery but also be informed about caring for your jewellery.
Because the saddest thing for a jewellery designer is to see somebody who is not wearing their jewellery. jewellery is meant to be worn and meant to be loved. And while some of this might sound a little complicated at first, these things will become a habit.
Storage
The first thing is where to store your jewellery. Now if you just have a few pieces you can store your jewellery in the boxes that it came in. Normally it will be presented to you in a way that is good to store it. The idea is to keep your jewellery away from heat, sun, and light.
These are all things that can destroy jewellery. And also to keep your jewellery from being scratched. So you want your jewellery in separate compartments or secured in a way that they’re not banging together. The worst thing you can do is throw it all in a box or a bin and have it banging together. That can damage jewellery.
Cleaning
Generally speaking, the best way to clean your jewellery is to get a mild liquid soap, a mild dishwashing soap not a detergent. Put it in water. Create a sudsy little bath in a bowl. Set your jewellery in there. Let it sit for just a little bit, and then brush it with something soft like a makeup brush or a baby toothbrush. And then to rinse it. So empty that out, and then rinse it well.
Before you do this put a washcloth at the bottom of the sink. This way you won’t lose your piece of jewellery down the drain. And if you do drop the jewellery into the sink it’s not going to hit a hard sink. It’ll hit a soft washcloth.
Those blue solvents that you often get at big-box stores. They can be fine for diamond jewellery and gold, but a lot of stones will not do well in that solvent which is mostly alcohol. There are also ultrasonic cleaners, and those can be good or bad depending on your jewellery. Again if it’s anything other than just diamonds and gold it could harm the jewellery.
But that shaking around if everything isn’t very secure can be bad for the jewellery. So your safest just with the warm sudsy bath and rinsing it out. This is also true of pearls & beads, but pearls are a little bit of a different animal. And there’s kind of a whole ritual around pearls.
There are also liquids that are meant to dip your silver in. Only do that for a short period of time just dip it in and out. And only do it if you want your silver to be truly bright and shiny. A lot of times silver is meant to patina.
The designer has created it so that grooves and different aspects of its patina, get a little bit darker, which makes the whole piece richer. So be aware that you may not want to dip your jewellery. When it comes to cleaning there can be some pretty specific things that you should know about a specific piece so it’s good to know what you have.
If you inherited the piece of jewellery or we’re gifted it, take it to a jeweller and ask them what you have. And then you can look up how that piece of jewellery should be cleaned and cared for. Check out my article on the best online jewellery store in Australia ( a true little online gem). One very good online designer jewellery shop we recommend is based in Melbourne, Australia – InVogue Jewellery
Jewellery On/Off
jewellery should be the last thing you put on and the first thing you take off. There are a number of reasons for this. First of all different solvents, different things that you wear, things like perfume and hairspray can ruin the jewellery. Can harm jewellery. It can make it dirty, or it can actually even harm some stones. Even soaps and lotions can get it dirty and may harm some stones.
The other thing is if you take your clothes off before taking off your jewellery, you may rip a chain, yank a chain, pull an earring out. So it’s really safest to just have the jewellery be the last thing you put on and the first thing you take off. If you’re out and about and you’re shopping and you decide you want to try on clothes, go ahead and try on the clothes.
If you have a little pouch or bag that you can put those things safely in and wrap them up then do that. Otherwise, like with the necklace tuck it into your shirt and then take it off. Just be aware of all your jewellery, and make sure before you leave any dressing room that you have accounted for every single piece including your earrings and the backs of your earrings before you leave. Because you may be hunting that dressing room for pieces.
The next thing is don’t swim or shower in your jewellery. In the shower, the soaps can scum up your jewellery and also you’re at danger of yanking something, and you know just bending a prong or ripping a chain. Also, chlorine is not good for jewellery. Saltwater is not good for jewellery. Sunscreen is terrible for jewellery. Not to mention if you’ve done any fishing at all, and you have seen a lure, you’re basically in the ocean being a lure. A big lure for a big fish like I don’t know a shark. Trust me. Just don’t wear your jewellery!
Sports & Exercise
Don’t wear your jewellery while you’re exercising or doing sports. This is not only for your jewellery but also for you. Somebody can yank a chain, and it could harm you. One of the worst things I’ve personally seen. I was a competitive gymnast, and a girl on the team she was wearing hoop earrings, and she did she was doing a series of back handsprings, and when she did it her sleeve caught on her earring and just ripped through her ear. It was horrific. There was a . . . let me just tell you . . . there was a lot of blood. It was very memorable. Don’t wear your jewellery when you’ redoing sports.
Sleeping
Don’t sleep in your jewellery. A lot of people hate it when I say this. It’s really better that you and your jewellery spend the night apart. You can be apart for a little while. This has to do with bending prong, ripping a chain, but it also has to do with your own well-being. Earrings have has been known to be found in people’s ears after a good night’s sleep.
Conclusion
What if something does go wrong? What if you didn’t follow these rules, or you did and something still went wrong. One of the good things about fine jewellery is it can usually be fixed. Prongs that are bent can be fixed. Chains that are broken can be fixed. If you ding or dent or even really bend your jewellery it can often be fixed. That’s good news. If you lose a stone or scratch a stone that’s a little harder to do. The stone can be replaced, and depending on the piece you may have to have the stone cut just specifically for that piece so that can get expensive.
A good practice is to take your jewellery into a reputable jeweller about once every six months or so. Especially the pieces that you wear often, and they will clean them. They will inspect them, and they’ll let you know if anything needs to be done to them. Again I know this was a lot. You can also pick up jewellery care cleaners etc from an online jewellery store or a jewellery making supplies shops.
Generally speaking, have a good place to store your jewellery. Know how to gently clean it. Take it off before you go to bed at night. Have it be the last thing you put on when you get dressed and wear it and enjoy it. I hope you enjoyed this video on how to care for your jewellery.