Keep your jewelry beautiful, year after year
Jewelry is special. You get them for a special occasion, you inherit them from a loved one or maybe you just buy them for yourself. You want to wear them year after year. And so it is important to take good care of your precious jewelry. Some tips!
General cleaning tips
Jewelry is usually worn on the skin. Gold and silver can become dull due to skin oils, makeup and creams, for example. Gemstones can lose their luster. A few tips that can help you keep your jewelry beautiful:
- Chemicals in cleaning products can damage your jewelry. Take off your jewelry when using these products. Also take off your jewelry when you exercise.
- Perfume, creams and other care products can also damage your jewelry. So be careful with this. Apply makeup and perfume first and then put on your jewelry.
- Has dirt accumulated on your jewelry or between gemstones? Clean them gently with a soft toothbrush and a lukewarm suds of dish soap or green soap, for example. Rub them with a soft cloth (not a microfiber cloth, it can cause scratches).
- Use a special gold and silver polishing cloth to polish your jewelry.
- Silver can turn black due to oxidation. This happens if it is exposed to air for a long time. Therefore, store silver jewelry in a sealed box or bag. You can clean them with silver polish if necessary.
- White gold can turn yellowish. This is because white gold is composed in part of yellow gold combined with other precious metals such as silver or palladium. To make the jewelry whiter, white gold jewelry is often coated with rhodium. That layer wears off over time and a yellowish glow emerges. Polishing is useless. The jeweler will have to apply a new layer of rhodium.
- Note: do not clean your jewelry too often. By cleaning them, you are removing a small layer of the gold or silver each time.
- A variety of liquid polishes are available at the jeweler's, especially for silver and gold.
- Do not clean jewelry with gemstones and pearls in liquid gold or silver polish or with other cleaning agents. The chemical composition of these agents can affect the color of the stone. Jewelry with pearls should also not be cleaned with water. Pearls are often glued on and this can cause the glue to come off. Gently clean jewelry with gemstones and pearls with a soft cloth (not a microfiber cloth) and a soft toothbrush for the corners and edges.
- If a piece of jewelry contains glued stones, do not immerse it in hot water. This can affect the glue that holds the stones in place. Instead of hot water, use a damp cloth. If the stones in a piece of jewelry are set in metal, you can immerse them in warm water.
- Clean gold-plated jewelry only with a soft cloth (not a microfiber cloth) and a soft toothbrush for the edges and corners. Water and detergents cause the gold-plated layer to wear off faster.
- Keep your jewelry in a special jewelry box.
- Of course, you can have your precious jewelry professionally cleaned.
Maintenance of ruby
- It is best to clean ruby in lukewarm water with a mild soap and a soft brush. Dry your jewelry carefully with a cotton cloth.
- Have your jewelry checked by a jeweler or goldsmith at least once a year. He or she can check the jewelry for wear and tear to prevent you from losing it. Also, I can professionally clean your jewelry.
Maintenance of diamond jewelry
Diamond is the hardest stone on earth. Therefore, the setting of your diamond jewelry is a lot more fragile than the stone.
- Do not wear your diamond jewelry during rough work or when using a chlorine bleach as this can damage the setting (not the diamond).
- Have your jewelry checked by a jeweler or goldsmith at least once a year. This will check them for loose settings and signs of wear. They usually get a professional cleaning right away.
- Old or antique jewelry with diamonds, where the bottom of the setting is closed, should never come into contact with moisture. Moisture can then get under the stone, which cannot get out. Such jewelry can be brushed clean with dry chalk powder.
- Jewelry with diamonds can be dulled by skin grease, soap, cosmetics or dust. The incidence of light is then obstructed, while it is precisely that brilliance, that infinite play of light, that makes diamonds so irresistible.
- Jewelry with diamonds in an open setting (the setting is open at the bottom, making the stone visible from the bottom) will remain beautiful if they are gently brushed occasionally in lukewarm soapy water. Use a soft toothbrush to do this.
- Jewelry with diamonds also freshens up from some lukewarm water with a dash of ammonia. Soak the jewelry in this for half an hour. Then pat the front and back of the settings well with a soft brush Rinse again with the solution and let the jewelry dry well.
- Of course, jewelry can also be cleaned with a liquid jewelry cleaner. Your jeweler or goldsmith sells several excellent care products.
Maintenance of sapphire
- It is best to clean sapphire in lukewarm water with a mild soap and a soft brush. Dry your jewelry carefully with a cotton cloth.
- Have your jewelry checked by a goldsmith or jeweler at least once a year. He or she can check the jewelry for wear and tear to prevent you from losing it. Also, I can professionally clean your jewelry.
Emerald maintenance
Emerald is not as hard as diamond, but it is a lot harder than glass. Nevertheless, if emerald is not handled carefully, it can be damaged or pieces can break off. If you wear jewelry with emerald, you should be careful with sharp objects. It is also advisable to take off your jewelry when using caustic cleaning agents. Your goldsmith or jeweler can occasionally give your emerald a new beauty treatment. A minute amount of oil or resin is necessary to restore the emerald to its optimal appearance. The authentic cracks are no wider than a hair and can absorb very little substance, just enough to become less visible.
- It is best to clean your emerald in lukewarm water with a very mild soap and a soft brush. Dry your jewelry carefully with a cotton cloth. An emerald will last for generations if the stone is given loving treatment.
- Have your jewelry checked at least once a year by a goldsmith or jeweler. He or she can check the jewelry for wear and tear to prevent you from losing it. Also, I can professionally clean your jewelry.
Maintenance of Jade
Do not clean jade with chemicals, even with a special cleaner for jewelry. Chemicals and alcohol damage the stone, causing it to lose its luster.The best thing you can use to clean the stone is water, possibly with a little mild soap. Rub the stone with a microfiber cloth for luster. Prefer not to wear your jewelry with this stone while swimming. Keep your jewelry with jade separate from other jewelry to prevent inadvertent scratching of the stones.
What is the difference between color stones, gemstones and semi-precious stones?
Diamond, sapphire, emerald, ruby and jade are considered The big five among gemstones. Gemstones that do not belong to these five used to be referred to as semi-precious stones. This term is incorrect and is no longer used in the jewelry industry. Gemstones with a special color are called color stones.