Jewelry often requires cleaning, polishing, brightening, rejuvenating, and sometimes even professional restoration to prevent chips, fades, scratches, bending, warping, falling apart, and long-term damage. Whether you buy animal jewelry of solid gold, sterling silver, or something a little more unique like verdigris or enamel, this guide aims to provide you with a basic understanding of how to care for your jewelry.
General Tips for looking after Animal Jewelry
●Wear and tear should be checked on jewelry regularly. It is easier to clean a problem if you notice it quickly.
●Abrasive cleaners should not be used on jewelry. Never.
●Make sure you clean jewelry gently. When working with metal and gemstones, please do your best not to scratch them or dislodge their settings.
●Remove any make-up or natural skin oils whenever jewelry is worn with a soft, dry, lint-free cloth afterward. It doesn’t happen often – people are too busy to remember – but it’s a good idea.
●Avoid getting wet threaded pearls or beaded jewelry wet, as water may weaken and break the string thread.
●Keeping natural pearls clean after wearing them is important. You can use a dry, soft, lint-free cloth to clean them off and place them in breathable pouches or tissue paper.
●Every few years, or as wear-and-tear demands, have your most treasured pieces professionally cleaned and checked.
●Take any damaged jewelry to a professional for evaluation if you notice loose stones, broken claws, thinning metal, or fractures.
Gold jewelry care
Due to its inert nature, pure gold does not oxidize or tarnish, so it’s low maintenance for metals. Even though 9ct gold, with its lower purity percentage, sometimes tarnishes over time due to its higher silver content ratio, it still requires relatively little attention compared to silver.
The durability of solid gold jewelry makes it perfect for wedding bands and engagement rings you do not want to put off and on 50 times a day. Solid gold jewelry must, however, be kept in tip-top condition to avoid falling off.
●To reduce the chances of your solid gold jewelry being knocked or scratched by other, harder jewelry pieces, we always recommend storing or packing it in a pouch or box regardless of its carat weight.
●It is possible to wash your gold jewelry with a special gold polishing cloth or soak it in soapy, warm water and gently scrub it with an old, soft-bristled toothbrush. Rinse well with clean water and dry thoroughly afterward.
●To prevent dirt from embedding in the cracks and corners of gemstone settings (which can loosen stones), we recommend regularly cleaning your gold jewelry, especially if it is gem-set.
●To keep white gold jewelry looking white, it is often necessary to take more care. Generally, this involves re-coating the surface of white gold jewelry with rhodium plating to restore its white shine. For example, an engagement ring made of white gold may require replating every 1-2 years if worn frequently.
Sterling silver – what is it?
There are 92.5% pure silver alloys in sterling silver and 7.5% other metal alloys (typically copper). Saxon times defined its purity; today, it is marked with the hallmark ‘925’.
Silver: how to keep it clean
Sterling silver scorpion pendants need love and care to keep their shine, as they tend to tarnish when not maintained. Silver usually tarnishes when it reacts with sulfur in the air. Silver turns dark gray or black when tarnished, making it appear as if it has been painted with soot or tar. As soon as it becomes visible, it’s much easier to remove, and as soon as it tarnishes, it becomes much more complicated. Therefore, we recommend you regularly give your silver jewelry a good clean to prevent this.
The following tips will help you clean silver:
●Silver jewelry without gemstones can be washed with mild soap and warm water. Before returning the silver jewelry to its protective pouch, ensure it is completely dried with a soft, lint-free cloth. It would be great if you didn’t use paper towels on silver because they can scratch it.
●You can use a soft bristle, an old toothbrush, and soapy water to remove some dark residues from the silver. The tarnish can also be removed with a professional silver polish such as this one.
●If you use silver daily, you may want to invest in a few specialist silver polishing clothes. You can easily keep your silver jewelry looking perfect with these 100% cotton cloths infused with silver cleaner.
●Remember to put your silver jewelry on after moisturizing and perfuming yourself. You must keep it in a cool, dark, dry place like a clothes drawer or safe, and keep it away from household chemicals, sun cream, and sand.
Brass Jewelry
Brass is one of our favorite materials. Rattlesnake Tail Earrings are made from this material because it’s lightweight and can be incorporated into various jewelry. Many designers are challenging the boundaries of what materials belong in fine jewelry, traditionally associated with fashion and costume jewelry.
Care for brass
The natural tarnishing and color change of brass is a natural phenomenon. With time, brass jewelry such as Rattlesnake Tail Pendant takes on different metallic tones due to chemicals from the atmosphere and the human skin.
●To limit these changes, you can do the following:
●Extremely high temperatures should be avoided when working with brass
●Using a soft toothbrush, gently rub brass with warm, soapy water. Jewelry set with gemstones should be handled with care.
●It is possible to use specialist anti-tarnish cloths on brass jewelry. Check whether the solution can be used with all gemstones by reading the instructions carefully.
●To prevent tarnish caused by oxidation, always dry brass jewelry completely before storing it.
