You have received as a gift a gorgeous gemstone ring, you look at it and wish it had its sparkle forever. You worry because you do not really know how to take care of this beauty. But the solution is very easy :)  

 

Gold and gemstones are durable!!!

 

Gold and gemstones are truly durable. Gold does not oxidize, it does not combine with oxygen easily. If you have solid 14k gold jewelry, the gold of this purity will not tarnish or corrode, what for sure would happen, if you bought the jewelry in lower purity of gold. For this reason, in my work, I do not use gold lower than 14k. I want you to have jewelry that you will cherish for years to come and which will stay in your family forever. 

Before you buy, read about the stone you want to pick

 

Precious stones are durable. Diamonds, sapphires, and rubies are the hardest minerals, but of course, there are some exceptions among the stones worth knowing about. If you look at the stones I use, the softest ones are apatites, peridots, pearls, and opals and it will be the easiest to see the traces of tarnish on them. From my point of view, apatites are like flowers, they look beautiful at the beginning, they have dazzling color, but they quickly "wither" :) It is a good habit before you buy a ring with a stone to check its hardness and just to know if it belongs to soft stones and can scratch easily or not. And do not bump into anything, do not destroy it and it will serve you for a very long time.

 

Have your jewelry checked by a professional jeweler

 

If you wear jewelry every day, the metal may also show abrasion marks over the years and it may wear out in some places. Therefore, it is essential for a professional jeweler to examine your jewelry. I try to check my wife's jewelry after several years of use every year to make sure that no stone has started to loosen in the setting. This is especially important in the case of multi-stone rings or rings with diamonds mounted using the micro pave (halo) method. It is a very solid binding, but with mechanical deformations of the ring, it is worth the jeweler to tighten the setting again.

 

Even a slight crushing of the ring causes the stones to start moving. Often the stones loosen but rarely fall out as there must be significant damage for the stone to fall out.

Vintage jewelry

 

If you have old, antique jewelry and you want to wear a ring, for example, that has been in your family for years and you received it from your grandmother, you must remember that you will have to rebuild some parts of the frame or make it anew.

What happens if you do not take off the ring from your finger and wear it every day

 

If you do not want to take off the ring (even for example, for washing), after a year, and sometimes even faster, your stone might become dull in color. I recommend washing off the sediments from the gemstone which usually accumulates in hard-to-reach places on the lower part under the stone by a professional jeweler. Unfortunately, dirt, soap, lotions make the ring and gemstone lose their shine and sparkle. This short visit will make your ring shine like new.

I really like to see the joy of my clients when they receive back their cleaned, sparkling as new jewels. So why not make yourself happy more often and give your jewels old-new sparkle? :)

Few more things to remember

 

Everyone, who bought jewelry from us, as a gift received a cleaning cloth intended for the maintenance and refreshing jewelry. The cloth is soaked in a special substance. It is good practice to wipe all your gold jewelry with this cloth from time to time. If the jewelry is not scratched heavily, the effect will surely be satisfactory.

 

And one more thing worth remembering :)

 

Make sure you store your jewelry properly. Remember the rule that pieces of jewelry cannot touch one another because they get scratched! It is good to have a special jewelry box with compartments and padded with fabric. Pearls, opals, apatites, or peridots should be kept wrapped in a piece of cloth so that they will not scratch against each other when carrying them :)

Let me know how you take care of your jewelry. Maybe you have some life hacks worth sharing? If you need professional advice, leave a comment. I will be happy to share my knowledge.