Caring for your jewellery
When you buy some jewellery directly from me, you'll receive a little care card with your item, this has details about caring for your jewellery on it to help you get the longest life from your jewellery so it always looks its best. I thought it might be useful to have some top tips here too, these are all techniques I use or tips I've picked up from other jewellers. You can also send your jewellery to me for a clean and polish, this is only available for jewellery I have made. I'll reapply textures, finishes and check over your jewellery for any repairs that may need done.
Why does silver jewellery tarnish?
Sometimes people ask me while deciding on buying something from me, "will this tarnish?" The simple answer is Yes, unfortunately it will. There is nothing we can do to stop this, it's the natural reaction of oxygen and silver, chemicals are magic. To slow this down keep your jewellery in the box it came in or in a plastic zip seal bag to keep the oxygen out and tarnish at bay.
Platings will wear off over time, especially if they're in contact with something, like your fingers. I make jewellery in contrasting silver and black as I love the contrast. This black is an oxidising chemical that increases the intensity and speed of the oxidising process so it goes from white silver to black in a matter of seconds. This black effect will fade too, so if you've a ring with this effect remove it before washing your hands, etc. Don't wear jewellery in the shower, as well as the lotions being potentially harmful for the jewellery, the water could wash away the protective coating that I put on the oxidised areas. If you've requested Black Rhodium or White Rhodium plating, these will also wear away over time. It depends how often you wear the piece and also how the jewellery reacts to your skin, everyone's skin has different levels of oils, sweat etc and these elements will affect the jewellery.
Beeswax is used to seal and protect oxidised areas
9ct white gold and rhodium plated white gold to show the difference in colour
Suilven cufflinks with a highly polished landscape and an oxidised sky
Top tips for wearing jewellery.
Jewellery should be the last thing you put on and the first thing you take off. Perfumes and lotions can have strange effects on your jewellery so try to reduce contact by putting your jewellery on last. One of my clients recently came to me with a necklace with a broken chain, it had got caught while she was taking off a jumper, so always take your jewellery off first!
Don't swim with it on. The chemicals in swimming pools will quickly deteriorate your jewellery.
Don't wear it in the shower or while washing your hands! It might seem like it's getting a clean too but the different chemicals in soaps, perfumes and shower gels could damage your jewellery. This is especially bad for platings on rings; they'll wear off much faster.
Store it in the box or bag it came in and away from direct sunlight which will intensify the oxidising process.
My top jewellery cleaning tips.
Plain kitchen roll is the best thing to use to dry your jewellery without scratching it after cleaning, still be gentle with it to avoid scratching.
The textured parts on your jewellery may tarnish and the best way to get rid of this is to regularly clean it with a soft toothbrush and either some dish soap or toothpaste.
Toothpaste is also excellent at cleaning your silver chains. Put a sploge on your index finger and then run the chain through the toothpaste, using your thumb to rub it onto both sides of the chain. Go over the length a couple of times and this will bring it back to it's natural silver colour, rinse in warm water. Minty fresh!
Bicarb of soda, hot water and tinfoil. Scroll down to read how!
Polished silver will tarnish too but this is also simpler to clean. I use Hagerty eco-green polishing solution. I put a blob of this onto the piece, leave it for a few moments then buff away with a polishing cloth or paper towel. I have previously used Silvo wadding which you can pick up from most supermarkets but it's not very environmentally friendly.
If you take a small piece of wadding out the tin, lightly paint this onto the silver; you really want the liquid off the wadding not the fabric so don't rub with too much force. Then using a soft cotton cloth buff away the residue. Sometimes depending on the level of tarnish you might need to do this a couple of times over before you get a good shine.
I've recently been introduced to the magic of boiling water, bicarb of soda and aluminium foil. If you put a piece of foil in the bottom of a heat proof container, place in your jewellery, sprinkle in some bicarb of soda then pour over still boiling water and and watch the tarnish lift off. BE CAREFUL and don't put your hand in the boiling water to retrieve your jewellery; let it cool or rinse the whole thing in cold water. Different stones and metals will react differently to this process, some don't like water so please check with the jeweller you bought your piece from before doing it! It's a pretty magic effect. Depending on the tarnish you may need to experiment a little with quantities!
