Wear & Care Diamonds can break, chains may snap and precious metals will scratch so show a little love and care for you jewellery. Diamonds There is a misconception that diamonds are unbreakable, unfortunately this is not true. Although the hardest known natural mineral and virtually scratch resistant it doesn’t stop them shattering when hit hard enough. Therefore it’s a sensible precaution to remove diamond set rings for sports or during any form of manual work as a sharp knock could result in the stone shattering. Gold and Platinum are hardy metals, which should be able to withstand most of the rigours of normal daily use. However even with normal wear they will scratch and dent and with hard wear may misshape. They can be polished with a soft cloth but I don’t recommend a silver polish cloth as they generally contain abrasive powder. Silver You may find that some items occasionally turn black (oxidise) where they come into contact with your skin. This is due to the natural acids in one's skin reacting to the additional metals in sterling silver. Silver in its pure form is too soft to be of much use for jewellery, sterling silver is the combination of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other alloys. How do you stop it oxidizing? Normally it will stop of its own accord after a short while, and by continued wearing the oxidisation will wear off. In the meantime you can polish it with a silver polish cloth or use a "silver dip" solution. If you find that it continues to oxidise, we can rhodium or pure silver-plate it. Silver polish cloths generally contain an abrasive which scratches the surface of a metal. This is helpful in removing black oxidisation but it will also scratch high polished finishes. Special finishes Matt finishes are achieved by uniformly scratching or pitting the surface of a metal, it is only a temporary finish and whether polished or matt, rings normally end up looking the same after six months or so. Most items made by us can be re-finished. Hammered finishes should be less affected by normal daily wear. Gold, silver and rhodium plating is the bonding of microns of the named metal to a surface. All forms of plating are susceptible to wear. Earrings are unaffected whilst they are worn or kept in their Jess James pouch, normally they suffer damage from poor storage. Cleaning of stone set jewellery. Most jewellery should be left in hot soapy water for ten minutes and then cleaned with a soft bristle toothbrush under warm running water. Shake off any excess water and then blow the residual water from the back of gemstone until dry. Warning this is not the case with pearls, or any porous stones (opal, lapis etc.). They should be cleaned with a soft cloth and regularly re-oiled using the natural oil from the side of one’s nose. I know it sounds gross but it’s a very fine oil, it’s free and it’s great for your gems. I would also advise that you don’t leave this group of gems in strong sunlight for long periods of time as the can dry out and crack. Sterling Silver is a soft, malleable metal whose finish will wear with you, the surface becoming slightly pitted and more textured as time passes. For this reason we do not recommend its use in wedding and engagement rings. 18ct Gold, 75% pure gold, is a good compromise between purity and durability. It is available in a variety of colours; yellow, red and white, the latter having a light honey tone in its colour, which becomes deeper with a matt finish. Platinum, the most expensive and pure of precious metals is also the strongest and most durable, with a distinctive steely-grey colour. |
