Care

Although jewellery is made of metal, gold is one of the softer more malleable metals with silver being even softer yet. This means that the shank of your ring can wear thin, the claws holding your stones can wear down, and links on a necklace can weaken and break. Here we will provide a few tips on how to help prevent damage to your jewellery or loss of a stone.

Prevent the rubbing or hitting of rings on other hard substances.

Unless you have a Titanium or even Platinum ring you should avoid rubbing against any other metals or hard surfaces. Gold and Silver are both softer metals and it will wear them down. Taking your rings off when working with your hands can help keep the shank strong.

Do not wear necklaces to bed.

As we move and shift in our sleep so does that necklace we are wearing. As the links are rubbing against each other they can slowly wear themselves down. While the effects are usually not visually noticeable, it can cause the necklace to break easier than it would have in more places than just one. If you're finding you're having to take your chain to get soldered quite often it's more likely that your chain is breaking in multiple places and not that the goldsmith who soldered it back together did a shoddy job. Again if you are having a problem with your necklace breaking often do not wear it to bed. Another reason not to would be that it is easy to have it catch on something without you knowing.

Avoid cleaning solutions.

When cleaning, removal of your rings is recommended. Even mild cleaning solutions could possibly have a light corrosive ingredient that may not hurt your skin but will slowly eat away at your rings. You also might want to avoid cleaning solutions with your jewellery because some can cause chemical reactions that will make your jewellery discolor your skin. Some make-up and perfumes have also been known to cause this effect when combined with the alloys present in gold.

Everyday wear...

If wearing multiple bracelets, necklaces, bangles and the such it is not wise to wear them on a daily basis. While they are next to each other as you move they rub against each other and are causing wear. Even deciding to wear your collection once a week opposed to every day could potentially decrease future repair work 7-fold.

Cleaning

Brand new jewellery is always shining and brilliant. After a few months of wear it tends to lose this brilliance. Some reasons include hand-lotion giving it a dull coating, food juices and greases obscuring the shine, or perhaps it simply collected a few tiny scratches. For whatever the reason, that shiny brilliance is easy to bring back.

Soap and a Soft Toothbrush.

The simplest method of home-cleaning is with an un-scented hand soap and a soft bristle tooth brush. With warm soapy water simply brush away with the soft tooth brush. This should remove a good amount of any filmy build-up and let the gold glisten again.

Store bought Jewellery Cleaner.

Jewellery cleaner such as what Independent Jewellers offers is generally in-expensive and lasts a long time. A little more effective than the soap and soft tooth brush method. As per instructions on the Gold Jewellery cleaner bottle "Simply put jewellery into dip basket and soak it for about a minute, use brush to take out dirt trapped under set stones, rinse, dry, and wear. For stubborn dirt, soak longer" There are different cleaners available for Gold, Silver, and Pearls. You should only use the cleaner specifically designed for the type of jewellery you intend to clean.

Ultra-Sonic Machine.

Your can purchase one in our store. The Ultra-sonic machine is the best method of cleaning jewellery, getting the smallest crevices with ultra-sonic vibrations. In addition to the Ultra-sonic, if you have many little scratches on your jewellery you may want to consider asking your local Jeweller if you can get your rings Buffed as well. This in combination with the Ultra-sonic will make the most worn jewellery appear in an almost brand-new condition.