Help & Advice - Cleaning & Care

There are many different theories on how to look after your jewellery, however not all methods are successful.  I therefore decided to share the tips and advice that I have picked up over the years and tell you the methods that I use myself (though I can not guarantee they will work for everyone).

There are two main factors in caring for your jewellery:

Storage:

1. My top tip for storing earrings is to always remove the rubber stoppers, otherwise your earring may tarnish rather rapidly.
2. Anti tarnish strips have been highly recommend to me and I have recently added then to my own jewellery box (though it is too soon to say how successful they will be).  If you do use anti tarnish strips make sure they don’t come into contact with your jewellery and that you change then every 3 to 6 months.
3. Another tip is to store jewellery in an air tight, low humidity environment.
4. And finally avoid storing jewellery in paper or cardboard, as apparently this can increase the rate of oxidation.

Cleaning:

1. My top tip is to avoid using silver or gold polish cloths on silver or gold plated items as they tend to be too abrasive and may actually strip off the silver or gold plating.
2. I have been told that baking soda and toothpaste can also be used to clean jewellery, I have tried baking soda and did find that it gave my jewellery a lovely shine, unfortunately this was short lived however and it ended up duller and more discoloured than ever in a matter of days, therefore I wouldn’t recommend this method and haven’t tried using toothpaste as I am worried this may be too abrasive as well.
3. Based on my experience it seems that the best way to clean gold and silver plated jewellery is to rub gently with a soft cloth.

Nickel Content in Jewellery

• a post inserted into a pierce part of the body must have a nickel release rate of less than 0.2ug/cm2/week
• jewellery in direct and prolonged contact with the skin must have a nickel release rate of less than 0.5ug/cm2/week

Difference Between Silver and Sterling Silver

What is Sterling Silver?

Sterling Silver is 92.5% silver, hence its purity mark is 925, which is why you will often find it referred to as 925 Sterling Silver.

Why do we use Sterling Silver and not Silver? 

Well, the answer is that Silver is very soft and therefore not suitable for all jewellery.  In order to make it hard, it is combined with another metal, usually copper, as this doesn't discolour it.