Category: Jewelry Care

Rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings and MORE! We love receiving and gifting these small, sparkly treasures but how many of us think twice about cleaning them?

Jewelry cleaning is essential to keeping that engagement and/or wedding ring looking brand new. Don’t forget about those anniversary earrings or the heirloom pearls your grandmother gave you on your birthday. Over your lifetime, you will probably find yourself with a collection of jewelry that will remind you of some of the happiest moments of your life. Now, in order to keep those memories sparkly we need to learn how to take care of them. Here are my top three tips on keeping your jewelry looking great.

Tip #1: Soak
Enhance your gold, diamond and silver pieces by soaking them in ½ a cup of an antibacterial/degreaser solution such as Summer Citrus or Mr. Clean. and 1 cup of warm water for 10 minutes. Then scrub with a soft-bristle toothbrush, targeting the smaller, hard to reach areas. Rinse with warm water, and lay on a tissue to dry.

NOTE: Another cleaning alternative is club soda. Place diamonds, rubies and sapphires in a cup of it overnight to regain their original shine.

Do you have a pearl necklace or bracelet? If so, did you know that your pearls can and should be regularly restrung to protect their beauty and quality?

Stringing pearls is a process by which pearls are carefully threaded onto a silk strand and knotted between each pearl. These knots provide two functions. The first function is practical, in that they keep the pearls from rolling everywhere in the event that the strand breaks. The second function is aesthetic, in that they provide a refined and elegant look by maintaining an appropriate and equal amount of spacing between the pearls.

Over time, however, the silk strand slowly begins to weaken, stretch out, and may even begin to appear dull or dingy from regular wear. These effects not only take away from the beauty of your pearl necklace or bracelet, but they also increase the likelihood of the strand fraying or breaking.

Most experts recommend restringing your pearls every three years or so, depending on their age and their amount of usage. To ensure the longevity of your pearl necklace or bracelet, consider bringing them to an expert and spending a relatively small—yet worthwhile—amount to have them restrung.

Pearls—like diamond rings or other pieces of valuable jewelry—are an investment and should receive proper care. In many cases, pearl necklaces or bracelets are passed down from one generation to the next as symbolic and meaningful family heirlooms. Regardless of whether you received your pearls from your mother or grandmother, or whether your spouse purchased them for you a few years ago, be sure to preserve the beauty and quality of this valuable piece of jewelry through regular restringing.

Related Articles

• “Why Solder Your Wedding Rings?”

So, you just got married and now you have two rings—an engagement ring and a wedding band—on the fourth finger of your left hand. While some wives choose to keep these rings separate, doing so can lead to both rings becoming damaged. Due to the friction caused by the two rings rubbing and scraping against each other over time, the intricate details of each ring can easily wear out, gradually transforming a clean and beautiful design into a marred and lackluster one.

The best and most common way to protect these two important investments is to solder them together. Generally speaking, soldering is the process by which two metal items become joined together through melting down and adding a filler metal—or solder—into the joint between the two. The filler metal has a lower melting point than the two metal items being joined, so the structure of these two items remains unchanged. This is what separates soldering from welding, a process by which two metal items are joined by being melted together. Believe us, you don’t want to weld your engagement ring to your wedding band!

By soldering your two rings into one with a delicate, yet solid bond, you are choosing to preserve their beauty and quality for years to come. (In addition to preserving these things, it’s simply easier and more functional to wear one “ring” as opposed to two.) When joining your two rings together, be sure that the soldering process meets the following important criteria:

1. Proper fit: both rings having equal inside diameters
2. Proper alignment: both rings maintain their individual artistic quality
3. Proper amount: the rings are bonded together at two points
4. Proper spacing: the bond should give the appearance of two separate rings
5. Proper quality: joining the rings with a lasting, professional-level bond

Soldering your engagement ring and your wedding band together is a wise choice. Doing so will enable you and your spouse—as well as future generations—to enjoy your rings as they currently are. Just as you would choose to work hard to preserve your marriage, so, too, you should choose to work hard to preserve the rings symbolizing that marriage.…