Caring for your jewelery, part 1
Like everything in life, to keep jewelry in the best possible condition, you have to do a little maintenance and follow a series of guidelines that we are going to explain.
Usually:
- Do not stack jewelry in a drawer. Some pieces can scratch others (diamond is the hardest known material, and it can only be scratched… with another diamond!)
- Clean your jewelry frequently with a napkin or jewelry cloth to maintain its shine.
- Avoid contact with sea water, cleaning materials and chemicals in general. If you are washing the dishes by hand, it is better to remove the jewels, since the Mistol, contrary to what you might think, does not do them well at all.
- Mercury destroys gold jewelry, so if your old thermometer is broken, use caution.
- Avoid wearing your precious metal jewelry, which is so prone to scratches, during manual labor or strenuous activities.
- Properly store your silver jewelry in a cool, dry and dark place. It will blacken more slowly.
- Wash gold and platinum with soap, water, and a soft cloth or brush, if be necessary.
- Wash the silver with soap and water, and be sure to dry it thoroughly with a soft cloth. If it is very dull, better use a commercial metal cleaner, with paste or with a polish remover cloth. Polishing silver can remove intentional oxidation (metal shading) which requires professional re-oxidation.
- White gold gradually loses its color, so every 2-5 years, depending on how you use it, you should take it to a jeweler to have a new layer of rhodium put on it.
- Finally, remember that if, despite all the precautions, your jewelry has been damaged, take them to your usual jeweler and you will see how in almost all cases they will give you a solution. At Germán Joyero we try to give our clients the best possible after-sales service and even today we pride ourselves on maintaining the jewelery that we once sold to the grandmothers of our current clients. A well cared piece of jewelery will last you a lifetime.
How to take care of silver: Unfortunately, silver is one of the metals that gets the most dirty over time. I don’t particularly like it for the simple reason that the few silver pieces we have in our jewelry stores require monthly cleaning and it doesn’t seem practical to me. How can you clean it? Well, you can simply wipe it with a damp cloth and rub it and if you really want them to be perfect, it is best to use a special liquid that you can buy in any specialized store or online. You will only have to immerse the pieces in silver in that liquid and then submerge it in another container of water and let it dry. This liquid is so effective that you do not even need to rub the piece since with a simple bath the jewel is completely clean.
