If you have ordered jewelry from me, I know you want it to stay beautiful for
as long as possible, so here a just a few tips that will help keep your
lovely items looking great for a long time to come.
I include a plastic bag and anti- tarnish square with all my sterling silver jewelry. When you aren't wearing your jewelry storing it inside this bag will help retard the normal tarnish that develops from exposure to the air.
Sterling silver jewelry looks it's best when worn regularly and develops a lovely patina over time. Please avoid wearing sterling, pearls, gemstones and 14k gold filled jewelry in chlorinated pools.
When you need to clean your jewelry try to avoid harsh cleaning agents. An excellent way to restore the shiny finish to sterling is to just wet the jewelry, place about a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in the palm of your hand and rub it all over the silver. Baking soda is a mild abrasive so will not scratch your finish, but should remove light tarnish. This should only be done periodically since the baking soda is an abrasive.
Gemstone Jewelry: Stack rings and several of my other items have fine gemstones as part of the design. Please read about what I use and why below for more information. Unless it is diamond or sapphire which are very hard, avoid harsh cleaning agents and ultrasonic cleaners. Gemstones are rated in how hard they are on a mohs scale. Any gemstone less than a 7 on the mohs scale is considered soft and should never be cleaned with anything other than mild soap and water or the baking soda method mentioned above. This includes but is not limited to turquoise, apatite, fluorite and most quartz.
Many gemstones are color enhanced with heat treatment, special care should be taken not to use heat or ultrasonic treatments on these stones- many of the most popular topaz like Swiss blue and London blue topaz are enhanced this way, it is a standard process in the gemstone industry, but these stones can lose their lovely color if overexposed to heat or ultrasonic treatments.
Pearls: A wise woman said, put your pearls on last after dressing and take them off first at the end of the evening. Pearls have a wonderful natural luster you will want to preserve. Hair spray, harsh cleaning agents, swimming pools all destroy that luster. Pearls are fine jewelry and should be treated gently. Pearls should not be stored in closed plastic bags. A soft cloth bag or one of the organza bags I send with all my jewelry is perfect to allow them to breathe.
I highly recommend Sunshine Polishing Cloths for silver if you can find them at a local store, if not they are definitely available on line. They will bring back a mirror shine.
A little more about gemstones. I use only AA or AAA rated fine gemstones unless otherwise stated. These stones are top quality and maintain their sparkle and integrity for many years. I will always mention any enhancements to these stones even though most are industry standard I feel a customer has a right to complete disclosure. These stones, especially diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and rubies are quite expensive so I do offer lab created stones of excellent quality as a substitute so you can customize the perfect stack ring or mother's ring set. It is important that you know lab created or LC stones are not simulated, those can be created with a piece of glass and I will not use them! A lab-created stone, on the other hand, is not considered an imitation. Lab-created gemstones are created in a lab environment to possess identical chemical and physical characteristics to the naturally occurring variety. They are very common substitutions for precious stones - ruby, sapphires and emeralds - because they are a fraction of the cost as the naturally occurring stones. They are considered a genuine stone in the gemstone industry.
If you require a natural stone but don't feel the need for the high quality I will, on special request, order an A or B rated commercial stone.
I include a plastic bag and anti- tarnish square with all my sterling silver jewelry. When you aren't wearing your jewelry storing it inside this bag will help retard the normal tarnish that develops from exposure to the air.
Sterling silver jewelry looks it's best when worn regularly and develops a lovely patina over time. Please avoid wearing sterling, pearls, gemstones and 14k gold filled jewelry in chlorinated pools.
When you need to clean your jewelry try to avoid harsh cleaning agents. An excellent way to restore the shiny finish to sterling is to just wet the jewelry, place about a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in the palm of your hand and rub it all over the silver. Baking soda is a mild abrasive so will not scratch your finish, but should remove light tarnish. This should only be done periodically since the baking soda is an abrasive.
Gemstone Jewelry: Stack rings and several of my other items have fine gemstones as part of the design. Please read about what I use and why below for more information. Unless it is diamond or sapphire which are very hard, avoid harsh cleaning agents and ultrasonic cleaners. Gemstones are rated in how hard they are on a mohs scale. Any gemstone less than a 7 on the mohs scale is considered soft and should never be cleaned with anything other than mild soap and water or the baking soda method mentioned above. This includes but is not limited to turquoise, apatite, fluorite and most quartz.
Many gemstones are color enhanced with heat treatment, special care should be taken not to use heat or ultrasonic treatments on these stones- many of the most popular topaz like Swiss blue and London blue topaz are enhanced this way, it is a standard process in the gemstone industry, but these stones can lose their lovely color if overexposed to heat or ultrasonic treatments.
Pearls: A wise woman said, put your pearls on last after dressing and take them off first at the end of the evening. Pearls have a wonderful natural luster you will want to preserve. Hair spray, harsh cleaning agents, swimming pools all destroy that luster. Pearls are fine jewelry and should be treated gently. Pearls should not be stored in closed plastic bags. A soft cloth bag or one of the organza bags I send with all my jewelry is perfect to allow them to breathe.
I highly recommend Sunshine Polishing Cloths for silver if you can find them at a local store, if not they are definitely available on line. They will bring back a mirror shine.
A little more about gemstones. I use only AA or AAA rated fine gemstones unless otherwise stated. These stones are top quality and maintain their sparkle and integrity for many years. I will always mention any enhancements to these stones even though most are industry standard I feel a customer has a right to complete disclosure. These stones, especially diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and rubies are quite expensive so I do offer lab created stones of excellent quality as a substitute so you can customize the perfect stack ring or mother's ring set. It is important that you know lab created or LC stones are not simulated, those can be created with a piece of glass and I will not use them! A lab-created stone, on the other hand, is not considered an imitation. Lab-created gemstones are created in a lab environment to possess identical chemical and physical characteristics to the naturally occurring variety. They are very common substitutions for precious stones - ruby, sapphires and emeralds - because they are a fraction of the cost as the naturally occurring stones. They are considered a genuine stone in the gemstone industry.
If you require a natural stone but don't feel the need for the high quality I will, on special request, order an A or B rated commercial stone.
