JEWELLERY CARE
To keep your jewellery looking beautiful for years to come, we recommend the following care tips.
Wearing
Remove delicate jewellery at night. I know it’s annoying but you can easily damage or break chains, earring posts or pendant fittings while your sleep.
Avoid direct contact with any creams, lotions or potions and always avoid spraying perfumes directly on to your jewellery.
Don’t expose your jewellery to any chemicals such as household cleaners, these can cause damage and discolouration to the surface of your jewellery.
Make sure you remove your jewellery when you shower or bathe and particularly when you swim in the sea or in chlorinated water. This can easily tarnish silver and damage laminate and gold-plated pieces permanently.
You should also remove your jewellery when doing activities, such as exercising or gardening to avoid knocking, scratching or bending delicate pieces.
Check your jewellery regularly for any wear and tear. Get in to a habit of checking stone settings and necklace clasps to make sure they are still secure. You can read more on what to look out for on our blog post, Jewellery Wear & Tear.
Storage
Always store your jewellery individually to avoid tangles and be sure to clean your jewellery before storing it for long periods of time.
If possible keep your jewellery wrapped in acid free tissue. This will help to protect it from oxidising in the air as well as keeping it protected from scratches, scuffs and tangles with other items.
Rigid chains or strung beaded necklaces should be loosely coiled or hung to avoid kinking or breaking.
Cleaning
Silver, Gold & Platinum
Solid metal jewellery can be cleaned with a soft toothbrush and a mild washing up liquid & warm water solution. For a step by step guide, read our blog post, ‘How to Clean your Jewellery at Home’.
Be careful when cleaning jewellery with gemstones, some are porous and don’t like water - see our Gemstone section below for more detail.
Tarnish
Silver can tarnish (turn dull or grey) over time if unworn or stored against other items of jewellery. Use a non-abrasive silver polishing cloth or liquid silver dip. Both are available to purchase from Varoshe, or most supermarkets. We recommend that silver dip is only used occasionally as over use can be detrimental to your jewellery and can cause it to tarnish more quickly.
Plated Jewellery
Any gold or rhodium plated pieces will benefit from extra care. As plating is a surface finish, it can be susceptible to wear. Use a warm soapy solution and a soft cloth to clean these pieces but do not use any abrasive substances as this can wear away the delicate layer of gold or rhodium.
We offer a jewellery cleaning, refinishing and re-plating service.
Please contact us for further details and prices at info@varoshe.com.
Gemstones
Like all jewellery, gemstone pieces should be stored individually to avoid scratches. Even a hardy stone can scratch, rub or even crack under the right circumstances.
Settings should be checked on a regular basis to make sure the stone is secure. If you see or hear your stones moving then stop wearing your jewellery and take it to a jeweller to be checked.
Certain gemstones are softer than others so require special care and attention. For ease we have grouped the most popular gemstones used at Varoshe in to 3 categories; hardy, medium and delicate. If you would like information about a stone not listed, please get in touch.
Hardy - Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire
These stones can be cleaned in an ultrasonic machine (a machine which sends ultrasonic waves through a liquid cleaning solution to shake the dirt out of settings etc). They can also be left to soak in the washing up liquid and warm water solution before being gently brushed with a soft tooth brush.
Medium - Topaz, Garnet, Tourmaline
These stones can be cleaned using the washing up liquid and warm water solution method but make sure the water is not hot as some ‘medium’ stones do not like heat or steam.
Delicate - Opal, Pearl, Tanzanite, Emerald, Morganite
Delicate stones are soft and/or porous so should not be soaked in water. Use a damp cloth to clean the surface of the stone before gently drying with a soft cloth or allowing to air dry. If your jewellery requires a more thorough cleaning, we recommend taking it to a professional.
Enamel
Enamel is glass that has been fused on to metal at a very high temperature to form a decorative finish. Although enamel is relatively durable, you must remember that, as glass, it should be handled with care.
Care should be taken not to drop, apply force or scratch the surface of the enamel, as this could mark or even crack it.
If you have an enamel ring, avoid wearing other rings on an adjacent finger as this can scratch the enamel surface. On a similar note, care should be taken when clapping as rings worn on the other hand can cause damage to your enamel.
When not wearing your enamel piece of jewellery, store it carefully away from any other pieces which could rub it and cause scratches.
To clean your enamel jewellery, simply use a soft cloth and warm soapy water to wipe away any dirt.
