Taking Care of and Cleaning Your Jewelry

Keep your jewelry separated from each other to prevent scratching, nicks, or dinging.

Keep fine jewelry in soft pouches or wrapped in a soft cloth to help protect it.

Don't overcrowd your jewelry box. Forcing jewelry into the box may cause damage, such as bending a fragile piece.

Every 12-18 months, have a reliable jeweler check each fine jewelry piece to make sure the setting is secure, especially the prongs. If you ever hear or feel your stone moving in the setting, it's a warning that a prong or bezel needs tightening. Failure to fix this may result in loss or damage to your stone.

Get into the habit of removing jewelry before showering or bathing. Soap can deposit a film that can diminish the liveliness and beauty or diamonds, and necessitate more frequent cleaning. Also, remove jewelry before putting on make-up or powder.

Never wear diamonds mounted in 14k gold or lower in chlorinated swimming pools, or soak your diamond jewelry in bleach. Chlorine attacks the alloys in the gold and weakens it.

How to Clean Your Jewelry

The best, simplest and easiest way to clean any kind of jewelry is simply to wash it with warm sudsy water with a mild detergent.

Soak the piece for a few minutes and then brush gently with a soft toothbrush, keeping the piece submerged in the sudsy water. While your drain is still closed, rinse thouroughly under running water and pat dry with a lint-free cloth.

Never boil jewelry to clean - many stones will crack or lose their luster or color.