caring for your jewellery

If you love jewellery as much as we do, it's easy to spend a small fortune on a collection. Whether your passion is precious gemstones or fashion pieces, regard you jewellery collection as an investment that needs your tender loving care.

Fashion jewellery, which is also called costume jewellery, have been a favourite choice for centuries for women and men of all societies. Contemporary fashion jewellery is reaching the same heights of popularity it did in the early 20th Century. It is often made to suit the seasonal fashion colours and is much more affordable.

Fashion jewellery ranges from cheap and simple designs through to the hand crafted necklaces and earrings that are made to last. The best way to ensure your favourite costume earrings, necklaces, brooches and rings last is to look after them so you can enjoy them for a long time.

Know What You Have

Fine jewellery and fashion jewellery don't mix whether you're wearing them, cleaning them, or storing them. Knowing whether your jewellery is fine or fashion is important for good care.

Keep fashion jewellery separate from fine jewellery. Use different drawers or compartments in a large jewellery case or consider purchasing individual cases.

When to Wear Your Jewellery

It is common sense to remove your jewellery during strenuous work or exercise. Still, take special care to remove jewellery even when engaged in routine household tasks. Cleaning solvents can damage both soft gemstones and precious metals. Even gardening grit can leave scratches and most importantly, accidentally catching your jewellery on something as simple as a cleaning cloth can result in injury to both you and your jewellery.

Remove rings before you apply hand or body creams.

Put jewellery on after applying make-up, perfume and hairspray.

Remove all jewellery before having your hair styled. Chemicals in colouring agents and perm solutions can do permanent damage to both precious metals and gems.

Jewellery and water do not mix well. Avoid leaving it in moist bathrooms, in a wet pile after swimming or showering.

Remove jewellery before entering a chlorinated pool or hot tub. Chlorine, especially at high temperatures, can permanently damage or discolour your gold jewellery.

Storing Your Jewellery

When removing necklaces, hold them at one end and gently wipe oils and dust from them, using a jeweller's tissue or other smooth, soft cloth. (Paper towels can scratch some metals and fabric like terry cloth can snag and break delicate chains.) At the same time, gently remove any kinks from chains and check them for damage.

Before storing necklaces, remembering to refasten the clasps to help prevent knots and kinks in jewellery chains

Keep jewellery items separate. Use a different compartment in your jewellery box for each piece, Diamonds, the hardest mineral, will scratch all other gemstones and most gemstones will scratch precious metals.

Pearls should be clean and dry before storage. Store them in their own pouch or box.

Display your items on earring holders, necklace stands, bracelet and watch displays to avoid messy tangles that can harm the jewellery. Display stands are also great for showing off your jewellery so you get to enjoy it more.

When travelling or carrying your jewellery around use an "organiser" to protect your treasures from nasty knocks.

Cleaning Your Jewellery

A mild soap and water solution used with a soft brush effectively cleans most jewellery. Cleaners that contain abrasives (including toothpaste) can damage soft metals and gemstones.

Rubbing with a soft jewellery tissue is an effective way to restore the shine and lustre of precious metals.

Don't use hard objects like toothpicks to clean around pronged settings - doing so may loosen the stone fixings and the next time you wear it you may lose the stone completely.

You may gently clean your jewellery with cotton buds.

Don't soak pearl strands or other necklaces with knotted strands. Soaking weakens and stretches knotting fibres.

Quick cleaning procedure:

1. Dip your jewellery for approximately 5 seconds in a jewellery cleaning solution

2. Rinse thoroughly with warm tap water

3. Wash in a glass cup with soap water

4. Rinse again with warm tap water

5. Towel dry

6. Blow dry with your hair blower. This is a critical step as it insures no moisture is left that may cause corrosion, shortening the life of your jewellery.

Many talented jewellery designers have created absolutely stunning pieces, especially with the latest trends on colourful and sparkling affordable designs. So whatever your style make sure you get to enjoy your beloved fashion jewellery for the years to come simply by caring for them!