jeudi 23 mai 2013

A Concise Guide to Jewellery Care

By Anita Hale


Do you spend a lot of money on jewellery? If you do, then it makes sense to know the proper way to look after it. It's really not that hard if you follow these simple steps. This will help you to maintain your rings, bracelets and necklaces and keep them looking lovely.

Now let's get one thing out the way. The majority of jewellery will suffer from wear and tear throughout its life span. This is an unavoidable reality. But you can moderate this by reducing when and where you dress in your jewellery. For example, you should take off rings, necklaces and bracelets before going to bed to avoid accidental scratching. Sweat might also encourage discolouration of various metals. Therefore you need to avoid wearing accessories whilst doing sport and working out. Avoid directly exposing your jewellery to hairspray, perfume and nail polish remover. This is because they contain harmful agents that could cause abrasion.

Oxidised metals have become steadily more used in jewellery design. This treatment creates a darkened effect on the metal which requires special attention to maintain. Chlorine is particularly bad for silver gold and oxidised metal. So never swim in your jewellery. Also beware of using silver polish on oxidised metal. This will damage the black effect of the oxidation. Silver polish should also never be used on pearls.

Ironically, you also need to take certain steps to prevent oxidation occurring in regular jewellery. Oxidation results in tarnishing and discolouration of metal. There are many things that contain sulphur compounds that could enhance oxidation if it makes contact with your jewellery. These include salad dressings, cigarette smoke and sometimes even some varieties of rubber.

If your jewellery does get tarnished you can treat it with some special silver polish. But such agents should be used in moderation. It has been found that some of these are abrasive and might harm silver more deeply. For day-to-day cleaning try a simple silver polishing cloth. In order to get rid of dirt, soapy water will do the trick. And a toothbrush is good for getting into the fiddly little embellishments of some lavish pieces.

As a final point, let's talk about the really expensive metals. As a rule of thumb, the purer the metal the softer it feels. This means that very expensive jewellery is far easier to scratch then cheaper jewellery. That is because less pure metals are made with a combination of alloys. This makes them harder and more durable. This is worth knowing because many people like to wear different kinds of jewellery next to each other. One of the most common ways of scratching gold rings is to where them next to rings of cheaper quality. So bear this in mind the next time you put on your jewellery.




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