In The Studio - Jewellery Care

I have had a lot of people ask me questions about jewllery care. So I thought over the next few posts I would give some insights.

This week I have been working on a piece where the client has supplied their Mum’s stones and gold. I sold the gold on their behalf to go towards the ring, a new service that I provide, and began cutting the diamonds and rubies out of the old rings. These stones were literally black underneath with 50+ years of grime underneath the setting. I was later told that Mum loves gardening in her rings!

This is all fine and everyone should enjoy and wear their beloved jewellery daily but how to keep the garden out of the settings? And if they do get grimy what can one do at home? Best practice is to visit a jeweller and ask if it is OK to pop the piece into their ultrasonic machine. It is a two minute exercise and if anyone tries to charge you for this walk away. An alternative at home however, is to soak your rings overnight in warm soapy water or in some metholated spirits. After soaking you can gently scrub your piece with an old toothbrush.

In all honesty though, it is a very good idea to get your precious heirlooms looked at by a good jeweller at least once a year. This way they can check if a stone is loose, give it some love and clean those sparkly stones. Like anything that has daily wear and tear, things can happen and the worst outcome is to lose a stone in the long grass.