Contrary to popular belief, your fine jewelry is not indestructible! While the creation of your heirloom piece includes setting the metal on fire, hammering and cutting into it (we give it the beating of it’s life before you get to wear it), the final product is actually fairly delicate and should be handled with care. But, what is the proper way to care for your jewelry? Here are some best practices to keep your silver and gold jewelry in tip-top shape.
Take off your jewelry:
- At the gym! Please! Working out from home? Take off your jewelry! Weights and machines can physically damage your jewelry. Contact sports can get caught on your partner and cause damage to you and/or him/her. Sweat and dead skin can clog up your settings, making your beautiful gemstones look dull and cloudy. As a jeweler and co-owner of a gym, I take off all my jewelry every single time I work out. It takes me 30 seconds (for multiple rings, earrings, bracelets and a necklace) and keeps me and my jewelry safe!
- When cleaning with chemicals. Chemicals such as bleach will actually eat away at the alloys in silver and gold, causing the metal to become weak and brittle. This can cause prongs to break off, making it much easier to lose your gemstones. Depending on the gemstone, bleach can actually alter their color or fade them. If you would prefer to keep your rings on while cleaning with chemicals, use gloves to protect them.
- While swimming. Chlorine has a similar effect on the alloys in your jewelry’s metal. It will eat away the alloys and make the piece brittle. But, aside from the harmful effects of chlorine, you actually can lose weight when you’re in salt water! The salt in salt water can pull water out of your hands, causing you to go down in your ring size. If this happens, your rings can slip off without you knowing…imagine trying to find your ring in the ocean!
- When applying lotions and perfumes. Lotions will cause residue to build up on your jewelry. This can leave them dull and covered in gunk. Perfumes (and lotions containing fragrance) contains alcohol which can permanently damage and/or discolor certain gemstones and metals (silver can tarnish faster when exposed to alcohol).
- When sleeping! The BEST practice is to remove all jewelry before going to sleep but I have a more relaxed view on this. If there are prongs, take the jewelry off. If you have high set rings, take them off. If you wear multiple necklaces that can tangle, remove them. But, in my opinion, something like a flush set wedding band or a very low bezel set ring shouldn’t be cause for worry. The issue with prongs or higher set rings is that they can catch on bedding. If this keeps happening, not only will you need new bedding but your prongs can shift, leading to loose gemstones. Don’t take that chance…just take them off. Depending on the season and how you sleep, you can also swell while sleeping. This can make it problematic when trying to remove rings later on. If you notice this happens, remove your rings so you don’t have to cut the ring off your finger.
While these are not the only times you should remove your jewelry, these are the most common daily activities I see people do with their jewelry still on. Your jewelry will not run away if you take them off for these types of activities and you will definitely prolong the life, sparkle and integrity of your jewelry if you follow these recommendations.
*One point I did not make (but I hope I don’t have to) is to remove your rings when handling raw meat…again, if you just can’t to it, wear gloves! But, please don’t introduce your beautiful heirloom jewelry to raw meat…they have no interest in one another!