Cautions when Cleaning
Use a nub free, 100% cotton cloth and gently wipe the piece clean using only the soft pads of your fingers. Keep in jeweler's tissue or a soft bag। To help retard tarnish on sterling silver, wrap the piece in jeweler's tissue paper and place it inside a plastic zip lock bag and seal।
To remove fingerprints, light grease or dirt, add a small amount of mild liquid soap to a half cup of warm water, soak 2-3 minutes, rinse thoroughly with clean water and dry completely before storing in an air tight plastic bag।
Be careful when using any soaking method to clean jewelry that has soft stones such as amber, lapis lazuli, or turquoise। Extended soaking in any solution may harm the polish on the stone।
Tips for keeping jewelry new and shiny
Never use anything but 100% cotton as a polishing cloth since paper, polyester, and coarse fabrics often contain wood fibers or synthetics। These materials may impart fine scratches in the metal, especially on sterling silver।
Important Warnings
Always remove your rings and fine jewelry before using any product that contains bleach! Bleach can cause gold and other metal alloys to breakdown leaving the metal irreparably damaged। This includes swimming pools and bathing in hot tubs as chlorine products are added to prevent bacteria growth।
If you normally use specially purchased jeweler's cloths to keep your jewelry clean and shiny, be sure to use fresh clothes since the dirt and grit left on the cloth from a previous use will now leave scrapes and pits in the piece you are trying to clean and polish।
Never use toothpaste or other abrasives to clean metal or stones। This is not an accepted practice by fine jewelers।
Gems require special care
Opals
Never use an ultrasonic, never use chemicals and avoid heat। Don't put your opal ring on the window sill when washing your hands or the dishes as strong sunlight can dry out the water in opals which could cause hazing or color change।
Pearls
Protect from scratches; perfumes and household chemicals which can wear away the nacre or cause color change।
Soft stones
Soft stones like lapis, malachite, turquoise, amber and opals can easily be scratched by pin stems and the edges of other jewelry। Protect pieces with these gemstones by wrapping them in jeweler's tissue and storing separately।
