Jewellery Care
Wondering how you are supposed to look after your jewellery? Well you’re not alone and it's a question we get asked regularly.
"When we get ready to go out, there’s a tendency to spray on our perfume and put the finishing touches to our hair at the end,” says Gill our lead designer. “The trouble is direct contact with liquids and aerosols, including perfume, insect repellent, creams, makeup and hairspray, can really affect the quality and condition of pearls, precious metals etc. and do need to be avoided."
Swarvoski® crystal pearls feature in many of our pieces as not only do they have a crystal core, luxurious lustre and silky feel that match the look and feel of real pearls, they also importantly have resistance to abrasion, perfume, perspiration and ultra-violet light (UV).
“The simplest advice I can give anyone,” Gill explains is “ jewellery should be last on and first off’ as it really makes an amazing difference. Also, there are slight differences in how to care for pearls and precious metal jewellery. We recognised that a lot of people weren’t sure how to look after their jewellery, so we include a little ‘Care and Cleaning’ card as standard with each item purchased as well as having this page on our website dedicated to caring for your jewellery too."
Our top tips for caring for your jewellery
Caring for your pearls
To remove natural body oils prior to putting your pearls away, just gently wipe them using a soft lint-free cloth. If dirty, use a lightly dampened soft lint-free cloth. Always make sure they are air dried before storing though.
Never clean your pearls:
- Using an ultrasonic cleaning machine
- In solutions that contain ammonia or harsh detergents
- Using an abrasive cleaner or rub pearls with an abrasive cloth
One of the reasons ALL our pieces come in their very own jewellery bag is that jewellery should be stored separately as they can get scratched. This particularly applies to pearls, therefore, always place them in their own jewellery bag and ideally store them separately in their own slot in your jewellery box. If you’ve not got a jewellery box, just put them in a small drawer. It your pearls have precious metal clasp etc see below.
Caring for your Sterling Silver Jewellery
To slow down the tarnishing process and reduce the risk of scratching against other jewellery, always put the pieces into their own jewellery bag and store in an air-tight cool dry place.
Extra tip – for the best results, pop into a little plastic bag too for extra O2 protection!
Sterling Silver, stored properly, can be worn often and with minimal cleaning required making it very easy to care for. Silver polishing cloths are impregnated with jewellery cleaner and are an excellent choice for cleaning your Sterling Silver jewellery. If you wear the items daily, Dee and Gee Designs York highly recommends that you just ‘buff’ clean them every day to keep them sparkling! These polishing cloths are inexpensive, widely available and very easy to use. We recommend having one cleaning cloth for gold and one for silver!
Avoid Silver/Gold Plated Jewellery
One of the reasons Dee and Gee Designs predominately uses precious metals (for example Sterling Silver) is that whilst plated metals maybe cheaper, there is a huge difference in quality between real Sterling Silver and Silver/Gold Plated jewellery/components. For example, silver plated merely has a very thin layer of silver bonded to a base metal, such as brass or copper, which is less durable. Even with little wear or use, the layer wears off quite quickly revealing the unsightly base metal. Sterling Silver, however, has a more attractive colour and shine as well as the ability to last a lifetime. When purchasing Sterling Silver jewellery, look out for a hallmark i.e. it should be stamped 'sterling silver' or '925'.
A little care invested in your jewellery pays off in the long run!