Care of Precious Metals & Stones

Unlike pearls, precious metals and gemstones such as diamonds are much more robust and do not need as much care and attention. Most gold and silver jewellery can be polished up with a soft cloth, or a specially impregnated jewellery polishing cloth. An old, soft toothbrush can also be used for removing any trapped debris.

9K yellow gold in particular can tarnish over time due to a variety of reasons, in particular as there are more alloy metals. (Natural alloy oxidation).

Natural oils, sweat, skin chemistry, perfumes, chemicals, and the like can cause tarnishing. Always wipe gold very carefully after use with a warm mildly damp cloth, taking care not to catch any cloth fibres on the gold. Keeping gold in air-tight containers helps to prevent tarnishing or colour changes. (Do clean first before storage). Also, remove jewellery before showering, swimming, using steam rooms, saunas, and the like.

Use a gold cleaning cloth on a regular basis or when needed. It is generally believed that wearing your gold jewellery (in particular 9K gold) can help slow down or keep tarnishing largely away if you clean after use. Leaving your jewellery uncleaned in a jewellery box for weeks or months is probably the worse thing you can do.

You should take great care when using cleaning products or cloths near pearls, as the chemicals in these cloths can damage the surface of the pearl and cause it to lose its unique lustre.

If you are having your pearl jewellery professionally cleaned, you should ensure that your jeweller removes any pearls from the jewellery before the process starts. Ultrasonic cleaning can seriously damage pearls.

Similarly, if you are having pearl jewellery repaired, pearls must be removed before any soldering takes place, as the heat can cause significant and irreparable damage to your precious pearls.

Storing gold and silver jewellery

Any precious metal pearl jewellery that is stored loosely together is at risk of scratches and other damage, not only to the pearls, but also to the surface of the precious metals. That’s why it is well worth investing in a jewellery box that keeps each piece separate from the rest in lined compartments. These will also have the facilities for storing pearl bracelets and pearl necklaces flat and straight to avoid kinks or knots developing.

Silver jewellery should be stored in a dry place to avoid tarnishing.

Care of diamonds

If you have chosen one of our diamond pearl jewellery items, then this will need extra care. Diamond settings can easily attract dirt and grime, especially around the back of the stone, so they need cleaning regularly.

With most diamond jewellery, you can simply soak it overnight in a weak solution of an ammonia based domestic cleaning fluid. However, diamond jewellery which features pearls should never be soaked, as this will damage the pearls. Instead, you should gently brush the setting with a soft brush to remove any debris. Pearl jewellery with diamonds should never be cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner.

Diamond jewellery should be checked regularly to ensure that the settings are sound. If there is any sign of wear, you should get it checked by a professional jeweller as soon as possible, or you could risk losing the stone.