How To Care For Your Precious Jewelry

Jewelry is one of our most treasured and cherished accessories. Understanding how to care for and protect your treasured jewelry can make a world of difference in maintaining its beauty and keeping your heirlooms sparkling for generations to come.

What follows are a few suggestions and advice for caring for your jewelry of every kind:

Safely store your jewelry

Ensure a secure storage for your valuable jewelry. It is better to use boxes lined with felt, compartments, fabric pouch, and hooks so that everything is kept separate. Do not ever toss them into piles in a box. This can damage the finer and more fragile pieces and create a tangled mess. Be sure that you store all of your jewelry safely away from air and humidity. Store them in a closed jewelry box or small drawstring bag for maximum protection. Certain metals will be tarnished when exposed to humidity or air. You will be able to polish precious metals to remove tarnish.

Clean with caution

It is important to know first what cleaning method is appropriate for each type of jewelry. The safest cleaning methods are also the easiest. They work for some kinds of jewelry, but may not work for your precious jewelry, as precious jewelry requires special care.

Be careful with light and heat

Just as the sun’s harmful rays can damage our skin, light and heat can affect a colored gemstone, excluding diamonds durability and color. Over time, and in excess, they can also damage some gemstones or cause the color to fade, such as amethyst, kunzite, topaz and shell cameos. Pearls and other delicate materials, such as ivory, will bleach under extreme exposure to light. Other gems, especially amber, can darken over time when exposed to too much light.

Keep your jewelry away from chemicals

Exposure to chemicals can damage or discolor precious metals – gold, silver and platinum – and may harm some colored gems. Even everyday substances like hairspray, lotion, perfume or other cosmetics may contain chemicals that will permanently damage the surface of your pearls and other delicate or porous gems (like turquoise). Fine jewelry should be removed before diving into a chlorinated swimming pool or before using household cleaners. Many of these cleaners contain ammonia, which can be too harsh for delicate gems or vintage jewelry. Chlorine bleach, another common household solvent, can damage gold alloys.

Treated gems need extra care

Many colored gemstones are routinely treated to improve the appearance of color and clarity. These treatments can be negatively affected by heat, solvents, steam, and ultrasonic cleaners. Knowing whether your gem has been treated is the first step to knowing how to care for it. This is where a GIA report comes in – it contains important information about your gem and any detectable treatments it may have undergone. You can be more at ease when it comes to diamonds as they are least affected by this factor.

Be careful with ultrasonic cleaners proceed with caution

While you can purchase a professional ultrasonic cleaner for $150 or less, you should be aware that not all gems and jewelry can be safely cleaned in it. Ultrasonic cleaners should not be used to clean:

  • Gemstones with surface-reaching breaks that have been filled with a substance such as oil, resin or a glass-like material

  • Organic gem materials such as pearls, coral, ivory, or amber

  • Gems that have been coated with a non-permanent substance like plastic or wax

  • Some heat-treated gemstones

  • Gems that are susceptible to heat and temperature changes whether they are treated or not. Some of these gems include tanzanite, feldspar (sunstone and moonstone), fluorite, iolite, kunzite, lapis lazuli, malachite, opal,topaz, turquoise, zircon and others

What’s more, the vibration generated by the machine can sometimes shake gems loose or chip gems that are set with their girdles touching. This type of cleaning is best left to jewelry professionals who know about different gem materials and understand when and how to use the ultrasonic cleaner safely.

Start with quality

Proper care is important for maintaining your valuable fine jewelry. Selecting high-quality jewelry from the start will also contribute greatly to the precious items lasting a lifetime and beyond. With Lao Pride Inc, not only will the design impress your customers, but you can also be confident that our jewelry is designed and crafted using top-of-the-line technology and experienced craftsmen to give you high quality every time. Contact us today to find out how we can bring your dream to reality from the entire design-to-production process so you can be the go-to place for fine jewelry.