How to take care of your jewelry

December 04, 2018

When you buy a new piece of jewelry, you do feel very happy because of your new acquisition. But you also feel a bit uneasy because you had to pay a substantial amount of money for it. This uneasiness is offset by the happiness of owning a new jewelry. The real hurt comes when you lose your jewelry due to careless, or when you lose its luster and dazzle due to careless handling and storage. That is why it is important that after you have bought a piece of jewelry, you must take good care of it. This will not only prolong its life, but it will also look good when you wear it.

1. The first thing to remember that your jewelry would usually have some kind of metal or gemstone crystals. Both of these are durable in terms of hardness, and would be resistant to scratches and knocks. But they would be susceptible to reaction with chemicals. That is why you need to ensure that any kind of jewelry that you have is kept away from chemicals. You should keep in mind that ‘contact with chemicals’ would not only come by dropping a chemical on the jewelry. It could also come from swimming in a chlorinated swimming pool or using regular washing/cleaning/ cooking solutions found in households.
2. Apart from the corrosion due to chemicals, the next biggest risk to jewelry is the chance of scratches and dents to the jewelry. Although most jewelry is durable due to the hardness of the gemstones and metals, but it is true that with a correctly aimed blow to a gemstone, it can even be broken, because of the sliding crystal structure. Similarly, metal parts of jewelry might not break but they can surely get dents and bumps. That is why they must be carefully stored in hard boxes instead of being tossed into a jewelry drawer where it might get scratched by contact with other jewelry.
3. Even if you have kept your jewelry safely, it does begin to show negative effects over a long period of time. That is why regular polishing and cleaning is required for jewelry over and above safe storage. The best way to clean at home is to use a lukewarm solution of water and mild detergent applied with a soft brush. Some gemstones like pearl are softer than others, so the brush that is used for cleaning must be even softer than the brush used for other gemstones. Once the cleaning is done, the jewelry must be dried using a soft towel, while making sure that there are no threadlike strands in the towel.
4. When you are wearing jewelry, you must remember that continued exposure to sunlight or to high heat might discolor some gemstones, and might also not be good for the metallic parts of the jewelry. That is why if your schedule is mostly outdoors, then do make sure to rotate your jewelry and not keep repeating the same ones. Some more delicate gemstones might lose their color or sheen even under exposure to bright light.
5. There are many jewelers who use treated stones. This process involves subjecting the gemstone to certain effects in order to improve the translucence and clarity of the gemstone, and often to add to the color by making it deeper or lighter, as per requirement. If you are aware of these, you can take preventive action accordingly, so that the gemstones are not negatively impacted.

These are very simple steps to take but highly effective. If you are able to follow these five simple steps, the longevity and beauty of your jewelry will increase manifold.

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