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Jewellery Care |
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Silver production and use goes back to around 3000BC with mines near Athens leading the world in the production of silver for 1,000 years. The early Egyptians considered silver to be more precious than gold and it has been turned into many valuable and practical objects over time. The most stunning and desirable use of silver has been in the making of jewellery.
Silver has been used to make jewellery for thousands of years because it is such a soft and beautiful metal. The fact that it is malleable and can be so brilliantly polished makes silver an exceptional metal. Its adaptability means that |
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Wearing your silver jewellery
When wearing your jewellery try to follow these tips:
· Remove before showering or swimming especially in salt water. · Avoid getting body lotions, hair spray, perfume, or oils on your jewellery – put your pieces on AFTER getting ready to go out.... |
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· Do not expose to chlorinated water or bleach – remove jewellery for those household chores (or avoid them altogether...) – it doesn’t like the sulphur in rubber gloves either! · Do your exercises without your jewellery as it also doesn’t like sweat! |
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Storing your silver jewellery When not wearing your jewellery it should be kept dry, out of direct light and protected from humidity. Your aware jewellery arrives wrapped in tissue paper within a ziplock bag as well as a more decorative bag or box. The reason for the ziplock bag is that this is one of the best ways to store your jewellery as it keeps the air away from it. Store items separately so that they don’t rub against and scratch each other. Although your ziplock bag will provide good protection from tarnish, plastic cling wrap has properties that can damage your jewellery so don’t be tempted to use that as an alternative. Contact with paper, wood and rubber bands should also be avoided. Even certain foods can be harmful such as onions, eggs, mayonnaise, milk and salty foods so take your rings off before dipping into that bag of chips! |
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Cleaning your silver jewellery Because Silver is such a soft metal, care should be taken with its cleaning. Even a very mild polish works by using an abrasive so will remove a very small amount of silver each time it is used. Your aware jewellery will be coated with a special wax to protect it from tarnish so all you should need to do to keep it clean and polished is to regularly give it a quick and gentle rub with a soft cotton cloth. If the piece does become more heavily tarnished or for other jewellery you may have, try using some of the following methods: |
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· For light tarnish - or to prevent it from happening - a solution of mild dishwashing liquid, (preferably phosphate-free), and warm water is quick and effective. Just make sure you remove all traces of moisture from the jewellery pieces by drying them thoroughly afterwards with a cotton cloth - this will prevent water stains and further tarnish. · A small amount of bi-carbonate of soda can be mixed with some water to make a paste that is used to gently rub the silver several times. Rinse the silver thoroughly in warm water and carefully dry with a cotton cloth. This is NOT recommended for surfaces that have a high polish, an oxidised design or include any other materials such as semi-precious stones. |
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· You can use commercial cleaners easily bought at jewellers and other stores such as impregnated silver polishing cloths or bottles of silver polish. Apply very small amounts of polish and try to use in one direction as this will create a better effect than random rubbing. Polish off with a soft cotton cloth and make sure you have removed all the polish or else it will make the piece dull.
Many aware jewellery pieces include oxidised designs so be particularly careful not to remove the blackness with your cleaning – pulling a cloth taut over a surface and rubbing the piece flatly over it should help you to only polish the surface of the piece and leave the etched design unaffected. Also take care to avoid polishing any stones that are part of your piece as this may affect the surface. |
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The good news is that the more you wear your jewellery the less it will tarnish – what a great excuse to wear it all the time!
If you have any queries about the care of your aware jewellery, please feel free to contact us |
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· You may already have something like an ultrasonic or ionic cleaner which should be used following the manufacturer’s instructions |
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it can also take on a soft matte finish and it can have designs pressed, etched or engraved into it. Many aware jewellery pieces include etched designs which have been blackened by an oxidisation process.
All aware jewellery is made using sterling silver (.925) and some pieces also include semi-precious stones. Because these products are natural – and in the case of silver, soft - they do need care taken to keep them at their best.
It’s difficult to prevent some tarnish on your silver jewellery as it comes from humidity and chemicals in the air – even the oils from your hands. The patina of a well worn piece of jewellery can add to its charm and character but there are certainly steps you can take to reduce the tarnishing effect and to deal with it when it has already taken place.
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© aware jewellery 2009 |
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aware jewellery |
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aware |