Saturday, March 16, 2013

A Guide to Keeping Your Jewellery Looking As Good As New

By Anita Hale


If you are a lover of jewellery then you will want to know the quick and easy way to maintain it and make sure it continues to be as pristine as the day it was bought. Keep reading for some easy advice on how to care for your necklaces, bracelets and rings.

To begin with, just about all jewellery will suffer from usage during its lifespan. Sadly, this is inescapable. But it is possible to substantially cut back on this deterioration by limiting the situations in which you wear your jewellery. Make sure to take off rings, necklaces and bracelets prior to bedtime to avoid accidental scuffing. Sweating could also cause discoloration of most metals and so it is best to remove metal jewellery when playing sport. There are also other chemicals that it's best to keep separate from your jewellery. These are present in hair spray, perfume and nail polish remover. So don't let your jewellery come into contact with any of these.

Now let's have a look at oxidised metals. They have become increasingly popular to use in jewellery-making. These metals have been specially treated so that they take on a darkened appearance. This means that you need to take special precautions to avoid ruining the oxidation process. For instance, you should never be tempted to wear oxidised jewellery in the swimming pool. This also applies to gold and silver as the chlorine can do untold damage. You should also avoid silver polish when cleaning your oxidised jewellery because this can weaken its dark appearance.

Of course there is a lot of jewellery that is not made of oxidised metal. For these pieces you will want to take care to avoid oxidation occurring. Vinegar, air pollution and even some varieties of rubber can include sulphur compounds. These compounds can sometimes react when exposed to silver jewellery and this could encourage oxidation. Remember, oxidation triggers tarnishing and discolouration in metal.

It is possible to strip away tarnish through the use of polishing liquid designed for silver. But such agents should be applied sparingly as many available on the market are abrasive. Therefore, it is possible that too much silver polish could harm your jewellery even more. As an alternative, just try a silver polishing cloth for silver for day-to-day cleaning. To get rid of dirt, try soapy lukewarm water. And don't forget that the humble toothbrush is fantastic and getting into little nooks and crannies!

And lastly, it's worth noting that more pure metals are less scratch proof due to their softness. Low purity metals are mixed with a larger balance of alloys. This renders them firmer and more solid. This is why you should never wear gold jewellery next to cheaper metals. Gold is very pure and therefore very prone to scratching.




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